University students' perceived norms of peers and drug use: a multicentric study in five Latin American countries.

This cross-sectional study compared perceived peer drug use and actual drug use in a sample of Latin American university students. Students from nine universities in five countries (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Honduras and Peru) completed a questionnaire that addressed the use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and cocaine. Analysis focused on comparing perceptions to actual drug use. The findings largely, but not completely, confirmed the idea that students overestimate peer drug use. The unexpected findings were those relating to alcohol. While students generally overestimated peer use of tobacco, marijuana and cocaine, they accurately estimated or underestimated peer use of alcohol. Apart from the anomalous findings with regard to alcohol, this study shows that perceived drug use relates to actual drug use in Latin America as it does elsewhere. The results also support the suggestion that interventions using normative feedback would be useful to strengthen drug use prevention programs aimed at youth in Latin America.

[Sertraline and acute pancreatitis: a case-report]. / Sertralina e pancreatite aguda: relato de caso.

Acute pancreatitis is a severe disease with considerable morbidity and mortality. Many risk factors are causally related to acute pancreatitis. In this report, a case of acute pancreatitis with possible causal relationship with the use of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, sertraline, will be discussed. After one month of treatment with sertraline, a female patient, 55 years-old, developed a severe abdominal pain and showed a serum amylase elevation. She was admitted to the hospital and the use of sertraline was interrupted. After that, the symptoms remitted and the serum amylase level returned to normal. Because of the potential severity of this disease and the widespread use of sertraline, this association should be reminded when investigating possible causes for acute pancreatitis.

Assessment of motivation for treatment in alcohol dependent patients who sought treatment at a specialized medical service.

INTRODUCTION: Motivation is deemed a critical component for interventions intended to change behaviors related to the use of alcohol and other drugs. The classification of patients in 'stages of change' can be a useful tool for the organization and improvement of treating programs. METHODS: This study assessed the stages of change using the scales URICA and SOCRATES in patients who attended two different treating programs for alcohol dependence in a specialized medical service. We performed an analysis of the association between stages of change and demographic aspects. After three months of treatment, patients were reassessed to evaluate their outcome. RESULTS: In the assessments using URICA, there was an association between stages of change and monthly income and age. There was no evidence that patients move across the stages of change. Using the scale SOCRATES, we found an association between stages of change and monthly income. In the reassessment, there was a significant movement across the stages of change. CONCLUSION: Patients who attend two different treating programs may have different motivation profiles. There was no movement congruent with the stage of change model, suggesting that patients may need more than 3 months to obtain significant changes in their motivation.