MDMA Use by Paris Medical Students: Prevalence and Characteristics.

BACKGROUND: 3,4-Methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA) is increasing being used by youth in Europe and in France, but characteristics of its use are unknown. Objectives: The aim was to characterize MDMA use in a sample of French medical students. Methods: Cross-sectional study of Paris VII medical students (N = 592) with an online self-reporting questionnaire. Results: 592 students completed the online questionnaire. 21.5% (n = 127) had experimented with MDMA. Use of MDMA was associated with male sex (p < 0.001), older age (p < 0.001), left the parent's home (p < 0.01), and belonging to a fraternity (p < 0.05). Most experimenters (90.7%) used MDMA in a club or during a music festival. Among users, 42.5% used it more than once a year and less than once a month. During the use, users drank alcohol (90.6%), smoked tobacco (70.9%), smoked cannabis (42.0%) or used cocaine (20.5%). In the days after the use, some smoked tobacco (40.9%), smoked cannabis (29.1%), drank alcohol (22.0%), used cocaine (1.6%) and also took benzodiazepines (5.5%). According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, criteria, the prevalence of MDMA use disorder was 8.5% in our sample and 40.9% among MDMA users. As compared with students who never experienced MDMA, fewer users thought that occasional intake could be dangerous (66.9% vs 83.9%, p < 0.001) and that MDMA could be addictive (74.0% vs 90.3%, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Other studies focusing on drug consumption among students are necessary to define specific public health strategies of prevention and harmful reduction.

Impact of a computer-assisted Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment on reducing alcohol consumption among patients with hazardous drinking disorder in hospital emergency departments. The randomized BREVALCO trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of a computer-assisted Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) on daily consumption of alcohol by patients with hazardous drinking disorder detected after systematic screening during their admission to an emergency department (ED). DESIGN: Two-arm, parallel group, multicentre, randomized controlled trial with a centralised computer-generated randomization procedure. SETTING: Four EDs in university hospitals located in the Paris area in France. PARTICIPANTS: Patients admitted in the ED for any reason, with hazardous drinking disorder detected after systematic screening (i.e., Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test score ≥5 for women and 8 for men OR self-reported alcohol consumption by week ≥7 drinks for women and 14 for men). INTERVENTIONS: The experimental intervention was computer-assisted SBIRT and the comparator was a placebo-controlled intervention (i.e., a computer-assisted education program on nutrition). Interventions were administered in the ED and followed by phone reinforcements at 1 and 3 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The primary outcome was the mean number of alcohol drinks per day in the previous week, at 12 months. Results From May 2005 to February 2011, 286 patients were randomized to the computer-assisted SBIRT and 286 to the comparator intervention. The two groups did not differ in the primary outcome, with an adjusted mean difference of 0.12 (95% confidence interval, -0.88 to 1.11). CONCLUSIONS: There was no additional benefit of the computer-assisted alcohol SBIRT as compared with the computer-assisted education program on nutrition among patients with hazardous drinking disorder detected by systematic screening during their admission to an ED.

Characteristics of online compulsive buying in Parisian students.

BACKGROUND: Online compulsive buying is a little-studied behavioral disorder. AIMS: To better understand its clinical aspects by focusing on (i) prevalence rate, (ii) correlation with other addictions, (iii) influence of means of access, (iv) motivations to shop to the internet and (v) financial and time-consuming consequences. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: 200 students in two different centers of Paris Diderot University - Paris VII. MEASUREMENTS: Brief self-questionnaires, to screen online compulsive buying, internet addiction, alcohol and tobacco use disorders, to rate frequency of online purchase by private-sale websites, by advertising banners, by mobile phone or to avoid stores, to rate motivations like "more discreet", "lonelier", "larger variety of products", "more immediate positive feelings", and "cheaper" and to assess the largest amount of online purchasing and the average proportion of monthly earnings, and time spent, both day and night. FINDINGS: Prevalence of online compulsive buying was 16.0%, while prevalence of internet addiction was 26.0%. We found no significant relationship with cyberdependence, alcohol or tobacco use disorders. Online compulsive buyers accessed more often shopping online by private-sale websites (56.2% vs 30.5%, p<0.0001) or by mobile phone (22.5% vs 7.9%, p=0.005) and preferred online shopping because of exhaustive offer (p<0.0001) and immediate positive feelings (p<0.0001). Online compulsive buyers spent significantly more money and more time in online shopping. CONCLUSION: Online compulsive buying seems to be a distinctive behavioral disorder with specific factors of loss of control and motivations, and overall financial and time-consuming impacts. More research is needed to better characterize it.