Of 148 medical students, 145 (98%) responded to the survey. The results revealed that 20% of students reported lifetime use of stimulants, with 15% reporting stimulant use during medical school. Compared with Asian students, white students had a 9-fold increase in odds for stimulant use (P = .001). The investigators note that the sample size was not large enough to reliably compare prevalence of stimulant use in black and Hispanic medical students. The researchers report that 13 students (9%) reported a diagnosis of ADHD and had an odds ratio of 37 for stimulant use in medical school compared with those without an ADHD diagnosis (P < .001). The study also revealed that, of those who had taken stimulants, 83% used them specifically to boost cognitive performance, including improving focus while studying and staying awake longer while on clinical duty. There were no differences in stimulant use by age, marital status, or academic achievement. "Indeed, those with high standardized test scores had an almost identical use prevalence compared with those with lower test scores," the investigators report. The majority (83%) of students who reported using stimulants used them specifically to improve cognitive performance. - www.medscape.com