Drinking, binge drinking, and substance use among health professional students

Abstract

Alcohol abuse is a major concern on college and university campuses. Heavy episodic drinking or binge drinking has also become a major health hazard. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between binge drinking and substance use among 2nd year health profession students at a university in the Western Cape, South Africa. Two hundred-and-one (201) health profession students were selected to participate in a cross-sectional study. A self-administered questionnaire adopted from the National College Health Risk Behaviour Survey and the American College Health Association National College Health Assessment was used to collect the data. Overall, 34.3% of the study sample reported binge drinking, i.e. having had five or more alcoholic drinks at a sitting. The prevalence of binge drinking varied significantly by gender and race. A strong relationship between binge drinking and other substance use was found(p<0.05). Binge drinking has become a key health hazard and the current study provides evidence that the prevalence of binge drinking among university students remain a public health concern.