Objectives: To determine the consumption of alcoholic drinks among adolescents in Tres Cantos and its defining characteristics.
Design: A descriptive, cross-sectional study.
Setting: State schools in Tres Cantos.
Participants: All the students present (994) who had registered for the 1994-95 year.
Measurements and results: A self-filled anonymous questionnaire was answered in the class-rooms of the schools in Tres Cantos during May 1995. The relationship between the variables was worked out using the computer programme EPI-INFO (version 5.01). 73.1% of those polled consumed alcoholic drinks. There were no significant differences for gender. Most consumption was at the weekend. The commonest drink was wine and its combinations, followed by beer, rum or gin and coke, spirits and fizzy drinks. The CAGE test was positive in 14.1% of cases. 59.6% had got drunk on some occasion, 89.3% consumed alcohol for the first time before they were 16, which most did outside the home. There was a significant association between participating in religious activities and less alcohol consumption.
Conclusions: The percentage of alcohol consumers among students is high. It is characterised by being similar in both sexes, starting at an early age and clear predominance of consumption at weekends and outside the home. Wine and its combinations is the commonest drink.