Harvard Medical School, Center for Addiction Medicine , Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2013 Oct;37(10):1779-86. doi: 10.1111/acer.12159. Epub 2013 May 17.
Exceeding nationally recommended drinking limits puts individuals at increased risk of experiencing harmful effects due to alcohol consumption. Both weekly and daily limits exist to prevent harm due to toxicity and intoxication, respectively. It remains unclear how well college students adhere to recommended limits, and whether their drinking is sensitive to the wider sex difference in weekly versus daily drinking limits.
This study used a daily-level, academic-year-long, multisite sample to describe adherence to NIAAA daily (no more than 4 drinks per day for men, 3 drinks per day for women) and weekly (no more than 14 drinks per week for men, 7 drinks per week for women) drinking guidelines, and to test for sex differences and time effects. College students (n = 992; 58% female) reported daily drinking on a biweekly basis using web-based surveys throughout their first year of college.
Women exceeded weekly limits more frequently (15% of weeks [14 to 17%]) than men (12% [10 to 14%]). Women and men exceeded daily drinking limits similarly often (25 and 27%, respectively). In a generalized estimating equations analysis across all 18 biweekly assessments, adjusted for covariates and a linear trend over time, women were more likely to exceed weekly guidelines compared to men. Sex differences in exceeding daily limits were not significant. Over time, rates of exceeding limits declined for daily limits but only for men for weekly limits.
Female college students are more likely to exceed weekly alcohol intake limits than men. Furthermore, trends over time suggest that college students may be maturing out of heavy episodic drinking, but women may not mature out of harmful levels of weekly drinking. The observed disparity in risk for long-term health consequences may represent a missed opportunity for education and intervention.
超出国家推荐的饮酒限制会使个人因饮酒而遭受有害影响的风险增加。每周和每日限制的存在分别是为了防止因毒性和醉酒而造成伤害。目前尚不清楚大学生对推荐限制的遵守情况如何，以及他们的饮酒行为是否对每周和每日饮酒限制之间的广泛性别差异敏感。
本研究使用了一种基于日常的、跨学年的多地点样本，描述了对 NIAAA 每日（男性每天不超过 4 杯，女性每天不超过 3 杯）和每周（男性每周不超过 14 杯，女性每周不超过 7 杯）饮酒指南的遵守情况，并测试了性别差异和时间效应。大学生（n=992；58%为女性）在大学第一年的每两周通过网络调查报告每日饮酒情况。
女性比男性更频繁地超过每周限制（15%的周数[14%至 17%]）。女性和男性的每日饮酒限制超标频率相似（分别为 25%和 27%）。在对所有 18 次双周评估进行的广义估计方程分析中，调整了协变量和随时间的线性趋势，女性比男性更有可能超过每周指导方针。在超过每日限制方面，性别差异不显著。随着时间的推移，每日限制的超标率下降，但仅对男性而言，每周限制的超标率下降。
与男性相比，女大学生更有可能超过每周的饮酒摄入量限制。此外，随着时间的推移，趋势表明，大学生可能已经不再有重度饮酒的习惯，但女性可能没有摆脱每周饮酒的有害水平。观察到的长期健康后果风险差异可能代表了教育和干预的错失机会。
