Celebration of Scholars
Are athletes who use unprescribed Adderall at a higher risk of mental or physical injuries than those with prescribed Adderall?
Name:
Mary Mccarthy
Major: Athletic Training
Hometown: Naperville, IL
Faculty Sponsor:
Laurie Jensen
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research
Abstract
Today
on almost every college campus, the use of unprescribed Adderall is of high
prevalence. Those who use unprescribed Adderall are influenced by various
stresses and the need to succeed, not only in classes but in their sports.
Studies have shown that a majority of college students who use unprescribed
Adderall are unaware of the physical and mental side effects that Adderall has.
The purpose of the literature review is to conduct research on these effects on athletes who
consume unprescribed Adderall. Within the athletic training scope of practice, the athletic trainers’ are to ensure
that all of the athletes are being safe with medication use and are educated on
the medication.
While
completing the literature review, certain words and phrases were used to find the question
and results. Some keywords/phrases used were risk of Adderall, prescription,
unprescribed, injuries, dosage, mental effects, physical effects, athlete(s),
and college student(s). For the research in the literature review, 15
credible sources were used as references. The search engines used were PubMed,
Google Scholar, and Cochrane.
Per
the research, it is concluded that athletes who use unprescribed Adderall are
at an increased risk of both mental and physical side effects that may harm the
athlete in the future. The research’s recommendation is that if someone feels the stress effects
of school and their sport, they should seek the advice of the health and
counseling center on their campus. Using unprescribed medication can have short-term
and long-term effects on the individual's life that may not seem prevalent at
the time of use. Short term effects include loss of appetite, irritability,
unhealthy weight loss. Long term effects include addiction, heart-related
issues, psychiatric problems. All research that has been conducted has
supported this conclusion in athletes who consume unprescribed Adderall.