Prevalence of binge drinking and associated co-factors among medical students in a US Jesuit University

Abstract

Binge drinking was highly prevalent among the sampled medical students, especially during an after-exam party. Identifying healthy coping strategies among medical students is warranted to reduce binge drinking.

Prevalence, perceptions, and consequences of substance use in medical students

“…Our study is consistent with previous research suggesting that many medical students use illicit drugs [6,7] and drink heavily [4,5]. Our findings also indicate that substance use during medical school often impacts students’ personal and professional lives.…”

“…Comparatively, those in the general population with ages ranging from 18–25 and 26 and older reported rates of alcohol use within the past month at 59.6% and 56.5% respectively [1], which is notably lower than medical students of similar ages in this investigation. Consistent with other studies, we found that male medical students tend to consume significantly more alcohol than their female peers [4]. This pattern remained when comparing our sample to age matched peers in the general population; both male (87.8%) and female medical (83.9%) students in the current sample consumed alcohol in the past 30 days at higher rates than male (72.8% of 21–25 year olds; 69.3% of 26–34 year olds) and female (65.4% of 21–25 year olds, 59.7% of 26–34 year olds) respondents in the general population [18].…”

“…Serious consequences associated with alcohol and drug use were reported: 22.3% experienced memory loss, 5.8% had seriously considered suicide, 24.1% reported doing something they later regretted, 18.9% reported getting into an argument or fight, and more than 10% admitted that they had driven while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Such findings are disconcerting, as this group of consequences suggests that substance use in medical students frequently precipitates severe lapses in professionalism [4,8,22,23], and too often endangers the lives of not only the student who is using but the lives of peers and others they may care for in the future.…”

“…Researchers have suggested that medical students who frequently use drugs or drink to excess during medical school, which includes after-exam partying, are at risk for developing a pattern of habitual use, and that this may foreshadow future consequences in residency and beyond [4,5,22,23]. The tendency to use substances to achieve mind altering effects or temporary relief from the academic demands of medical school makes these students susceptible to engaging in a pattern of risky social drinking in the future; such behavior has also been shown to affect professional decision making, such as providing alcohol counseling referrals to patients less often than those who do not drink [19].…”

“…Medical students follow general young adult patterns and are not exempt from the consequences of substance use, which may include injuries, work and social impairment, violence, risky sexual behavior, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and death [1–3]. Studies assessing the prevalence of increased substance use among medical students in the United States (US) suggest that as many as 58% of medical students may binge drink monthly [4], one in three medical students have used illicit drugs in the past year [5], use typically begins during high school or college [6], and that alcohol and marijuana are the most commonly misused substances [5]. Although many studies examining medical student substance use have been published in recent years, the most comprehensive research in this area was conducted over 25 years ago [7].…”