This survey assessed the alcohol and other drug (AOD) use habits and risk factors of health profession students at a midwestern university health science center. The authors administered a 75-item survey to 1,707 students in selected classrooms: 984 students responded for a return rate of 57.6%. In 1990, they found, alcohol use among the health profession students in the past year was comparable to that of undergraduate college students nationally (86%), although significantly fewer health profession students drank heavily (27% had five or more drinks in the past 2 weeks, compared with 41% of college students). The percentage of health profession students who reported using tobacco or illicit drugs was lower than the percentage of undergraduate students who used these substances. At the time of the study, 16% of the respondents may have had a potential current alcohol problem and 3.5% a potential drug problem. Pharmacy students most often reported negative consequences from their AOD use. Peer pressure influenced the drinking decisions of 55% of the respondents; students in dentistry and pharmacy experienced the least support from peers for their decisions to abstain from drinking. Family histories of alcohol problems were reported by 38% of the respondents, and family histories of drug use by 14.8%. Male health profession students, when compared with the female professional students, drank more and experienced more consequences of their drinking or drug use and were also more influenced by peers.
Alcohol is the United States' foremost drug of abuse. Although a significant portion of the population continues to identify alcoholism with moral weakness, society embraces treatment as the primary mode of dealing with this disease. Treatment stressing ongoing abstinence from alcohol is the most universally accepted method of therapy. Following initial intervention and referral, treatment of the alcoholic includes detoxification; intensive early treatment, using either outpatient or inpatient treatment settings; and long-term support for recovery. Aftercare programs often require continuing attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, recovery support groups, and psychotherapy. In addition, recovering individuals may receive continued health care supervision from a physician knowledgeable about alcoholism. Family therapy is stressed as a component of recovery.
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