Alcohol and students of 1st Faculty of Medicine at Charles University: Prevalence of use and associated risk behaviors
Abstract
Background: Students of medical faculties are encouraged to pursue healthy lifestyle through theoretical and practical teaching on the one hand, and on the other hand are subjected to extreme psychological stress, which can be considered as a possible cause of higher and more frequent consumption of addictive substances. Aims: The aim of this study is to examine the experience with alcohol use and related risk behaviours among students of the First Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague, with special attention to the symptoms of problem use and possible addiction.
Design and Measurements: The research design is cross-sectional questionnaire survey; questionnaire is composed of selected questions from the ESPAD 2007 questionnaire and a complete CAGE screening test. 53 % of probands obtained by selective self-selection method filled out the questionnaire in electronic form, 47 % of probands nominated through random group selection filled in the paper-and-pencil version. SAMPLE: The sample consists of 807 students of the First Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague (593 female and 214 male), which corresponds to ¼ of all students studying in 13 majors at this faculty.
The research group proportionally corresponds to the situation in the target population with a relatively lower proportion of male students and medical fields. Data analysis was performed taking into account the proportional representation of students by gender, fields and study years.
Results: In the last thirty days 88 % of the students from our sample consumed alcohol. 19 % of students reached a score higher than 1 in CAGE test (17 % women and 27 % men, respectively 17 % medical students and 26 % from non-medical fields). Cross mentioned differences between male and female probands are significant at the level of statistical signifikance of 0.01.
Higher scores on the CAGE test are associated with more frequent consumption and drunkenness.