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

BACKGROUND

Alcohol consumption is the third leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. Limited research has been conducted examining drinking habits of medical students.

OBJECTIVE

This study was designed to measure the prevalence and associated risk factors of binge drinking among a sample of medical students.

METHODS

A total of 485 medical students at a private, Jesuit medical school in the US participated in a confidential web-based survey in April 2011. Univariate and multivariate generalized linear regressions with robust error variance were performed for estimated prevalence ratio (PR) of binge drinking.

RESULTS

The prevalence of binge drinking was 58.1% among the sampled medical students with the majority being white (67.0%) and between 18 and 25 years old (60.0%). After adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, and year in medical school, there were statistically significant (p < 0.05) associations of drinking during an after-exam party (PR = 2.82), protective behavioral strategy (PR = 0.97 per 1-score increase), self-reported diagnosis of depression (PR = 1.19), tobacco use (PR = 1.21 for previous use, 1.39 for current use), and previous illicit drug use (PR = 1.24) with binge drinking. In addition, the prevalence of binge drinking decreased among this sample of the medical students with older age (PR = 0.80 for 26-28, 0.60 for >28, p < 0.01) compared to those of 18-25 years old.

CONCLUSION

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.