Patterns of Alcohol Consumption and Drinking Motives Among Korean Medical Students

Abstract

Departmental sources Background:Physicians who have healthy lifestyles can provide quality healthcare to their patients and keep themselves healthy. There is little data on the prevalence of drinking behaviors and problems among East Asian medical students. Here, we explored alcohol use and drinking motives among medical students in Korea. Material/Methods:A questionnaire-based, multicenter, cross-sectional study was carried out in 323 students from 5 medical colleges in Korea between July and October 2016. We used the Korean version of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire that included demographic characteristics, smoking status, consumption of alcohol, and drinking motives. Results:The mean AUDIT score was 9.8±7.5 for males and 6.3±5.4 for females. Heavy drinking (75.9%) and binge drinking (56.0%) were very high among Korean medical students. Female medical students drank as much as male students, and much more than other women. The probability that a student would be a binge drinker was 2.72 times higher for a smoker than a non-smoker. The scores for drinking frequency, alcohol intake at one time, heavy drinking, binge drinking, and alcohol dependence symptoms were highest in the group who had "enhancement drinking motives". Conclusions:Heavy drinking and binge drinking are common among both male and female medical students in Korea and this behavior is associated with smoking and enhancement drinking motives. Medical schools should consider implementing effective interventions to prevent and reduce problem drinking among medical students.

Drinking Behavior, Taste Preferences and Special Beer Perception among Romanian University Students: A Qualitative Assessment Research

“…Interestingly, most male students drink to relax or socialize, while most female students consume alcohol for the beverages’ taste or flavor. Other studies have also shown that drinking motives can differ between male and female students [ 24 ]. Among women, associations between drinking motives and the hourly AC rate were observed, and also, interactions between drinking motives and the impact of the number of friends on the hourly consumption rate [ 25 ].…”

Determinants of Alcohol Consumption among Medical Students: Results from POLLEK Cohort Study

“…The use of alcohol is a growing public health concern all over the world; it is associated with risk factors for disability, preventable mortality, and crime [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. It is a rising problem especially among young people, including students [2][3][4][5][7][8][9][10][11]. Their alcohol intake is higher than that of their peers not attending universities, as well as the general adult population [2,5].…”

“…It is a rising problem especially among young people, including students [2][3][4][5][7][8][9][10][11]. Their alcohol intake is higher than that of their peers not attending universities, as well as the general adult population [2,5]. It has been estimated that one in three people who abuse alcohol in their youth will become addicted [10].…”

“…Similar negative behaviors have been observed among medical students who are often exposed to higher levels of distress compared to the age-matched population. In this group, alcohol misuse can be one of the detrimental methods of coping with academic, social, and economic stressors [3,5,8,10,[12][13][14]. However, other researchers have suggested that medical students may not be more stressed compared to business students.…”

“…It has been already reported that alcohol misuse may have a negative short-term impact on academic performance, including dropout as well as long-term risk of alcohol use disorder (AUD) [2,5,12,17]. In spite of this, it is often underestimated, and even socially acceptable, when taken to be typical student behavior of limited duration [2,12].…”