Sedative drugs misuse among Egyptian medical students, facts and alarms, A cross-sectional study

Sedative drugs misuse among Egyptian medical students, facts and alarms, A cross-sectional study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Sedative drugs misuse among Egyptian medical students, facts and alarms, A cross-sectional study Mostafa Walid Saaed, Mohamed Mahmoud Khalaf, Ahmed Samy Elgammal, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6632588/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Introduction: Medical education imposes significant stress on students, leading to various mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety disorders, and burnout. These issues are particularly pronounced among medical students in Egypt. Despite this, the misuse of sedative drugs among this population remains poorly understood and under-researched. Methods: A cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire was conducted among Egyptian medical students from February to April 2023. The questionnaire collected demographic data and assessed sedative drug use since enrollment in medical school. Statistical analyses, including chi-square tests and point-biserial correlations, were used to analyze the data. Results: Out of 1,641 respondents, 257 (15.7%) reported using sedative drugs. Antihistamines were the most used type of sedative, with significant associations found between sedative drug use and academic year, family income, smoking, sleep duration, sleep quality, and sleep disorders. Discussion and Conclusion: The prevalence of sedative drug use among Egyptian medical students highlights a concerning issue that warrants attention. Factors such as academic stress, poor sleep quality, and higher family income were associated with higher sedative drug use. Addressing these issues through targeted interventions and support systems is crucial to mitigate the potential negative impacts on the well-being and future careers of medical students. Health sciences/Risk factors Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Stress and resilience Sedative drugs medical students Egypt mental health substance misuse antihistamines Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SedativeUseQuestionnaireenglishh.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers invited by journal 05 Oct, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 24 Sep, 2025 Editor invited by journal 11 Jun, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 03 Jun, 2025 First submitted to journal 03 Jun, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6632588","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":530051636,"identity":"f613c2b7-5287-4f57-96e7-c2684abe3b06","order_by":0,"name":"Mostafa Walid Saaed","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Benha University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mostafa","middleName":"Walid","lastName":"Saaed","suffix":""},{"id":530051637,"identity":"0402ffd8-0f45-4ed4-9028-9a130ad5d393","order_by":1,"name":"Mohamed Mahmoud Khalaf","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Benha University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mohamed","middleName":"Mahmoud","lastName":"Khalaf","suffix":""},{"id":530051638,"identity":"5d1562ad-2718-4465-a4be-2e15c518b708","order_by":2,"name":"Ahmed Samy Elgammal","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tanta University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ahmed","middleName":"Samy","lastName":"Elgammal","suffix":""},{"id":530051639,"identity":"63827ed6-0974-4553-a3f6-d506ec79ee33","order_by":3,"name":"Mohamed Y. 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study","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Sedative drugs, medical students, Egypt, mental health, substance misuse, antihistamines","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6632588/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6632588/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIntroduction:\u003c/strong\u003e Medical education imposes significant stress on students, leading to various mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety disorders, and burnout. These issues are particularly pronounced among medical students in Egypt. Despite this, the misuse of sedative drugs among this population remains poorly understood and under-researched. \u003csub\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods:\u003c/strong\u003e A cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire was conducted among Egyptian medical students from February to April 2023. The questionnaire collected demographic data and assessed sedative drug use since enrollment in medical school. Statistical analyses, including chi-square tests and point-biserial correlations, were used to analyze the data. \u003csub\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults:\u003c/strong\u003e Out of 1,641 respondents, 257 (15.7%) reported using sedative drugs.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAntihistamines were the most used type of sedative, with significant associations found between sedative drug use and academic year, family income, smoking, sleep duration, sleep quality, and sleep disorders. \u003csub\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDiscussion and Conclusion:\u003c/strong\u003e The prevalence of sedative drug use among Egyptian medical students highlights a concerning issue that warrants attention. Factors such as academic stress, poor sleep quality, and higher family income were associated with higher sedative drug use. Addressing these issues through targeted interventions and support systems is crucial to mitigate the potential negative impacts on the well-being and future careers of medical students.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Sedative drugs misuse among Egyptian medical students, facts and alarms, A cross-sectional study","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-16 13:58:32","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6632588/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-10-05T12:08:13+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-09-24T05:48:49+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-06-12T03:18:16+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-06-03T22:46:19+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2025-06-03T22:43:25+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"7ef25672-a314-4c9c-b90b-aa0549ce930b","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 16th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":56345269,"name":"Health sciences/Risk factors"},{"id":56345270,"name":"Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Stress and resilience"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-10-16T13:58:32+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-16 13:58:32","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6632588","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6632588","identity":"rs-6632588","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}