Dietz Pavel, Iberl Benedikt, Schuett Emanuel, van Poppel Mireille, Ulrich Rolf, Sattler Matteo Christian
Research Group of Physical Activity and Public Health, Institute of Sports Science, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Working Group Social and Health Sciences of Sport, Institute for Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany.
Front Pharmacol. 2018 Jun 12;9:494. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2018.00494. eCollection 2018.
Pharmacological neuroenhancement (PN) is defined as the use of illicit or prescription drugs by healthy individuals for cognitive-enhancing purposes. The present study aimed (i) to investigate whether including caffeine tablets in the definition of PN within a questionnaire increases the PN prevalence estimate (framing effect), (ii) to investigate whether the health-related risk attitude is increased in students who use PN. Two versions of a paper-and-pencil questionnaire (first version included caffeine tablets in the definition of PN, the second excluded caffeine tablets) were distributed among university students at the University of Graz, Austria. The unrelated question model (UQM) was used to estimate the 12-month PN prevalence and the German version of the 30-item Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT) scale to assess the health-related risk attitude. Moreover, large-sample -tests (α = 0.05) were performed for comparing the PN prevalence estimates of two groups. Two thousand four hundred and eighty-nine questionnaires were distributed and 2,284 (91.8%) questionnaires were included in analysis. The overall PN prevalence estimate for all students was 11.9%. One-tailed large-sample -tests revealed that the PN estimate for students with higher health-related risk attitude was significantly higher compared to students with lower health-related risk attitude (15.6 vs. 8.5%; = 2.65, = 0.004). Furthermore, when caffeine tablets were included into the example of PN, the prevalence estimate of PN was significantly higher compared to the version without caffeine tablets (14.9 vs. 9.0%; = 2.20, = 0.014). This study revealed that the PN prevalence estimate increases when caffeine tablets are included in the definition of PN. Therefore, future studies investigating the prevalence of, and predictors for, PN should be performed and interpreted with respect to potential framing effects. This study further revealed that the PN prevalence estimate is increased in students with a higher health-related risk attitude compared to students with a lower one. Therefore, future education and prevention programs addressing PN in the collective of students should not only inform about potential side effects of its use but also address the limited effects on cognition and potential alternatives of PN.
药物神经增强（PN）被定义为健康个体使用非法或处方药以达到认知增强目的。本研究旨在：（i）调查在问卷中将咖啡因片纳入PN的定义是否会提高PN患病率估计值（框架效应）；（ii）调查使用PN的学生与健康相关的风险态度是否增强。两个版本的纸质问卷（第一个版本在PN的定义中纳入了咖啡因片，第二个版本排除了咖啡因片）在奥地利格拉茨大学的大学生中分发。采用无关问题模型（UQM）来估计12个月的PN患病率，并使用30项特定领域风险承担（DOSPERT）量表的德文版来评估与健康相关的风险态度。此外，进行大样本检验（α = 0.05）以比较两组的PN患病率估计值。共分发了2489份问卷，其中2284份（91.8%）问卷纳入分析。所有学生的总体PN患病率估计值为11.9%。单尾大样本检验显示，与健康相关风险态度较低的学生相比，健康相关风险态度较高的学生的PN估计值显著更高（15.6%对8.5%；z = 2.65，p = 0.004）。此外，当将咖啡因片纳入PN的示例时，与不包含咖啡因片的版本相比，PN的患病率估计值显著更高（14.9%对9.0%；z = 2.20，p = 0.014）。本研究表明，当在PN的定义中纳入咖啡因片时，PN患病率估计值会增加。因此，未来关于PN患病率及其预测因素的研究应考虑潜在的框架效应进行实施和解读。本研究还表明，与健康相关风险态度较低的学生相比，健康相关风险态度较高的学生的PN患病率估计值更高。因此，未来针对学生群体开展的关于PN的教育和预防项目不仅应告知其使用的潜在副作用，还应提及对认知的有限影响以及PN的潜在替代方法。
