Background: Alcohol/binge drinking among university students has become a major public health problem. Many of young students will be exposed to substantial changes in living arrangements, socialization groups and social activities during the transitional period.
Aim: The aim of this study was to analyse the alcohol consumption in Romanian university students, and to describe the behaviours occurring after drinking.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 468 undergraduate students, from a university for medicine and law. Of these students, 35.5% were males and 64.5% were females. The mean age of students was 21.9 ± 3.22 years. Validated anonymous paper questionnaires were completed voluntary by the students. Questionnaires contained demographic items, six questions for determining the level of alcohol consumed in terms of quantity and frequency, and 19 statements or problems resulting from drinking.
Results: The findings of the study showed that males drunk more units of alcohol/week than females (p<0.001). The prevalence of abstainers was 10.8% in males and 17.6% in women. Heavy drinkers (drinking 5 or more drinks more than once a week) were more common among male (19.3%) than among female students (16.2%). Most frequently, drinking behaviours are related to academic performance, and the possible link between poor academic performance and alcohol consumption appears tenuous and merits further investigation.
Conclusion: Effective intervention strategies should be implemented to prevent students' alcohol consumption and adverse health and social consequences resulting from this behaviour.
Uvod: Pitje alkohola/popivanje med univerzitetnimi študenti je postal velik javni zdravstveni problem. Številni študenti bodo v prehodnem obdobju izpostavljeni bistvenim spremembam življenjskega okolja, socializacijskim skupinam in družbenim dejavnostim.
Namen: S študijo smo želeli analizirati uživanje alkohola pri romunskih univerzitetnih študentih in opisati vedenja, ki so posledica pitja.
Metode: Pregledna študija je zajela 468 dodiplomskih študentih iz medicinske in pravne univerze. Od teh je bilo 35,5% moških in 64,5% žensk. Povprečna starost študentov je bila 21,9 ± 3,22 let. Potrjene anonimne pisne ankete so študenti izpolnili prostovoljno. Ankete so bile sestavljene iz demografskega sklopa, šestih vprašanj za določanje količine in pogostosti uživanja alkohola ter 19 trditev oziroma težav, ki so posledica pitja alkohola.
Rezultati: Rezultati študije so pokazali, da moški spijejo več enot alkohola na teden kot ženske (p<0,001). Prevalenca abstinentov je znašala 10,8% pri moških in 17,6% pri ženskah. Osebe, ki uživajo alkohol v resnično prevelikih količinah (5 ali več pijač več kot enkrat na teden), so bolj pogoste pri študentih (19,3%) kot pri študentkah (16,2%). Najpogosteje je poraba alkohola povezana s študijskim uspehom, možna povezava med slabim študijskim uspehom in uživanjem alkohola pa se zdi nezanesljiva in kliče po nadaljnjih raziskavah.
Zaključek: Potrebno bi bilo uvesti učinkovite strategije posredovanja za preprečevanje uživanja alkohola med študenti in škodljivih zdravstvenih in družbenih posledic, ki jih prinaša tovrstno vedenje.
Keywords: Romania; alcohol consumption; drinking behaviours; students.