Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
J Am Coll Health. 2012;60(5):374-86. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2012.663840.
Segmentation of populations may facilitate development of targeted substance abuse prevention programs. The authors aimed to partition a national sample of university students according to profiles based on substance use.
The authors used 2008-2009 data from the National College Health Assessment from the American College Health Association. The sample consisted of 111,245 individuals from 158 institutions.
The sample was partitioned using cluster analysis according to current substance use behaviors. The association of cluster membership with individual and institutional characteristics was examined.
Cluster analysis yielded 6 distinct clusters. Three individual factors--gender, year in school, and fraternity/sorority membership--were the most strongly associated with cluster membership.
In a large sample of university students, the authors were able to identify 6 distinct patterns of substance abuse. It may be valuable to target specific populations of college-aged substance users based on individual factors. However, comprehensive intervention will require a multifaceted approach.
人群细分可能有助于制定有针对性的药物滥用预防计划。作者旨在根据药物使用情况为全国大学生样本建立基于特征的分组。
作者使用了美国大学健康协会 2008-2009 年全国大学生健康评估的数据。该样本由来自 158 所院校的 111245 人组成。
根据当前的药物使用行为，使用聚类分析对样本进行分组。检验了聚类成员与个体和机构特征的关联。
聚类分析产生了 6 个不同的聚类。三个个体因素——性别、在校年级和兄弟会/姐妹会成员身份——与聚类成员关系最密切。
在一个大型的大学生样本中，作者能够确定 6 种不同的药物滥用模式。根据个体因素针对特定的大学生药物滥用人群进行靶向治疗可能是有价值的。然而，全面的干预需要多方面的方法。
