Аннотация:
Introduction. Alcohol abuse has serious medical, social, psychological, legal and economic consequences. It causes antisocial behavior, degradation of the individual, deterioration of the health and gene pool of the nation. Among students, alcohol consumption is a fairly common phenomenon. In the present study, the authors planned to investigate the prevalence of alcohol use among medical students and the risk factors associated with it.
Methods. As a research tool, a comprehensive questionnaire was used, divided into four blocks and including the AUDIT scale, the European ESPAD survey questionnaire (a block of questions on alcohol consumption), the HADS hospital depression and anxiety scale, and a socio-demographic block. Processing and interpretation of the results was carried out using Microsoft Excel and the SPSS Base 17 statistical software package. The significance of differences in qualitative characteristics was assessed using Pearson’s χ2 test, corrected for continuity, the differences were statistically significant at p≤0.05.
Results and discussion. The study involved students of the Ural State Medical University from the 1st to the 6th year, studying at various faculties – a total of 501 people. The AUDIT questionnaire made it possible to divide all respondents into 4 groups regarding the risk of developing alcohol dependence. Group 1 (64.9%) included students with a low risk of developing alcohol dependence. Group 2 (30.9%) includes students with health-threatening consumption. Group 3 (2.8%) consisted of students with alcohol abuse. Finally, group 4 (1.4%) was represented by students with possible alcohol dependence. There is an increase in the proportion of students who committed acts incompatible with their life principles under the influence of alcohol. From 0.3% in the group with low alcohol dependence to 42.9% with possible alcohol dependence (χ2=179.897, p<0.01). There was an increase in the number of respondents with subclinically expressed symptoms of depression with an increase in the level of alcohol abuse from 12.6% in the first group to 57.1% in the fourth group (χ2=17.178, p<0.01). It should be noted that the highest percentage of clinically expressed symptoms of depression (21.4%) was found in the third group.
A high proportion of respondents with subclinically expressed symptoms of depression was found in the fourth group (57.1%), which is 4.5 times more than in the first group (12.6%). The highest percentage of clinically pronounced symptoms of depression (21.4%) was found in the third group.
Conclusions. Alcohol abuse is one of the forms of behavior that affects the student’s personality, social status and mental sphere. It is necessary to introduce effective programs for the prevention of alcohol abuse among students.
Ключевые слова:
students, alcohol dependence, alcohol abuse, risk factors, depression.