Personality, lifestyles, XXXX and drug consumption in a sample of British medical students.

@entity1 @entity286 @entity308 @entity167 @entity5834 @entity835 @entity148
Personality characteristics and lifestyle variables were assessed in two cohorts of second-year medical students at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK as part of a psychopharmacology 'teach-in' in 1993 and 1994. The pooled sample included 186 students: 77 @entity1 , 109 @entity1 , mean age 20.4 +/- 1.8 years. Measures included the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the @entity308 Scale, and a questionnaire concerning consumption of @entity167 , @entity286 , @entity835 and other illicit drugs, and physical exercise. The results were compared, where possible, with a similar survey in Newcastle upon Tyne medical students in 1983 and 1984. Personality variables, prevalence of cigarette smoking, levels of @entity5834 consumption and participation in sports had not changed significantly over the decade. There appeared to be a modest overall increase in @entity167 consumption and in the 1993 and 1994 cohorts of students, 25.5% of those who drank @entity167 exceeded recommended low risk levels (comparable data not available for 1983 and 1984). Reported use of @entity835 and other illicit drugs had more than doubled, and in the present survey 49.2% of students recorded using @entity835 and 22% had tried other illicit drugs. Corresponding figures for 1983 and 1984 were 20.9% for @entity835 and 3.3% for other illicit drugs. Anxiety levels were not measured in 1983 and 1984 but in the present survey 39.3% of the students had @entity148 ratings within the clinically significant range. The high levels of @entity167 consumption and illicit drug use, and the high @entity148 ratings, in this sample of medical students are a cause for concern.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
