TY - JOUR PY - 2014// TI - Prevalence of hazardous drinking among nursing students JO - Journal of Advanced Nursing A1 - Rabanales Sotos, Joseba A1 - López Gonzalez, Angel A1 - Párraga Martínez, Ignacio A1 - Campos Rosa, Monchi A1 - Simarro Herraez, María José A1 - López-Torres Hidalgo, Jesús D. SP - 581 EP - 590 VL - 71 IS - 3 N2 - AIMS: To estimate the frequency of alcohol consumption among nursing students and describe their behaviour patterns in relation to excessive consumption.

BACKGROUND: Most alcohol-related problems appear in individuals who indulge in hazardous consumption, with hazardous drinkers constituting a priority in the field of preventive activities. According to previous studies, there is a high proportion of hazardous drinkers among university students.

DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional study.

METHODS: Over the course of the 2012-2013 academic year, we assessed 1060 nursing degree students, ascertaining their socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle and alcohol consumption by means of the Systematic Alcohol Consumption Interview (Interrogatorio Sistematizado de Consumos Alcohólicos/ISCA) and Alcohol Use Disorders Inventory Test (AUDIT).

RESULTS: Hazardous alcohol consumption was observed in 43·4% of students. Moreover, 14·9% of men and 18·7% of women met criteria for hazardous drinkers, without any statistically significant difference between the sexes. The frequency of hazardous drinkers was significantly higher among participants aged under 21 years, those living outside the family nucleus and smokers.

CONCLUSION: A considerable proportion of students show evidence of hazardous alcohol consumption and, while there are no sex-related differences, the proportion of hazardous drinkers tends to be higher among the youngest subjects, smokers and persons living outside the family nucleus. Alcohol-prevention activities should envisage greater protection of university settings, particularly where future health professionals are involved.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0309-2402 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jan.12548 ID - ref1 ER -