Department of Public and Community Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, Maryland 20740, USA.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2010 Aug;34(8):1472-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01232.x. Epub 2010 Jun 1.
Alcohol-impaired driving is a major public health problem. National studies indicate that about 25% of college students have driven while intoxicated in the past month and an even greater percentage drive after drinking any alcohol and/or ride with an intoxicated driver. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the change in these various alcohol-related traffic risk behaviors as students progressed through their college experience.
A cohort of 1,253 first-time first-year students attending a large, mid-Atlantic university were interviewed annually for 4 years. Repeated measures analyses were performed using generalized estimating equations to evaluate age-related changes in prevalence and frequency of each behavior (i.e., ages 19 to 22).
At age 19, 17%(wt) of students drove while intoxicated, 42%(wt) drove after drinking any alcohol, and 38%(wt) rode with an intoxicated driver. For all 3 driving behaviors, prevalence and frequency increased significantly at age 21. Males were more likely to engage in these behaviors than females. To understand the possible relationship of these behaviors to changes in drinking patterns, a post hoc analysis was conducted and revealed that while drinking frequency increased every year, frequency of drunkenness was stable for females, but increased for males.
Alcohol-related traffic risk behaviors are quite common among college students and take a significant upturn when students reach the age of 21. Prevention strategies targeted to the college population are needed to prevent serious consequences of these alcohol-related traffic risk behaviors.
酒后驾车是一个严重的公共卫生问题。全国性研究表明，大约 25%的大学生在过去一个月内曾酒后驾车，甚至有更大比例的学生在饮酒后或搭载醉酒司机后驾车。本研究旨在调查随着学生经历大学生活的进展，这些不同的与酒精相关的交通风险行为的变化。
一个由 1253 名首次入读大型中大西洋大学的一年级学生组成的队列，在 4 年内每年接受一次访谈。使用广义估计方程进行重复测量分析，以评估每个行为（即 19 岁至 22 岁）的流行率和频率随年龄的变化。
在 19 岁时，17%（wt）的学生酒后驾车，42%（wt）的学生在饮酒后驾车，38%（wt）的学生搭载醉酒司机。对于所有 3 种驾驶行为，在 21 岁时，流行率和频率均显著增加。男性比女性更有可能从事这些行为。为了了解这些行为与饮酒模式变化的可能关系，进行了事后分析，结果表明，虽然饮酒频率每年都在增加，但女性醉酒频率保持稳定，而男性则增加。
在大学生中，与酒精相关的交通风险行为相当普遍，当学生达到 21 岁时，这些行为会显著增加。需要针对大学生群体制定预防策略，以防止这些与酒精相关的交通风险行为造成严重后果。
