Does Psychoactive Substance Use Affect Academic Performance of Medical Students? A Systematic Review

Background: The use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco is very common among medical students. Problems related to substance usage are currently of concern on a global scale. Despite this, the condition is frequently misdiagnosed because students attempt to conceal their issues and do not seek professional assistance.

Aim: To investigate how drug usage affects medical students' academic performance.

Design: A systematic review.

Data Sources: Systematic search for worldwide published literature from PsycINFO, Cochrane, Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, and WHOLIS.

Study Eligibility Criteria: Studies that were part of this review provided information on the methodology, methods, and/or measurements for how drug usage affected medical students' academic performance.

Data Extraction: The researcher further gathered the information from the chosen publications and recorded the following information in a consistent table: (i) publication information (first author's last name, year, and location of study); (ii) the sample size of the report; (iii) the impact of substance abuse on medical students' educational outcomes; (iv) the tool used to measure academic performance; (v) the average age of the sample size; and (vi) the percentage of female and unmarried medical students.

Results: Only 8 studies out of a total of 2,007 papers met all the inclusion criteria. Selection procedure was based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses (PRISMA).

Conclusion: Medical students and people who use psychoactive substances become unproductive in their lives. Due to the dearth of longitudinal investigations, understanding the true origins of this situation is challenging. To ensure that students attain the goals of their medical education and contribute to society's demand for more qualified and better trained medical professionals, medical training institutes may need to enact stricter prohibitions on drug use among students. The availability of medicines should be restricted in order to deter medical students from using and misusing them.