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Carolina M. Takizawa, MD, Department of General Internal Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, 91 East Concord St, suite 200, Boston, MA 02118, 617-414-2792, carolina.takizawa@bmc.org, Ralph W. Hingson, ScD, MPH, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, Talbot 2W, Boston, MA 02118, Timothy Heeren, PhD, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, TE330, Boston, MA 02118, Michael Winter, MPH, Data Coordinating Center, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, Talbot E4, Boston, MA 02118, Elissa R. Weitzman, ScD, Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Landmark Center - 401 Park Drive, PO Box 15678, Boston, MA 02215, and Henry Wechsler, PhD, Department of Health and Social Behavior, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.
Alcohol use in college students has been linked to many adverse outcomes. Although studies show that interventions reduce drinking and alcohol-related problems, most alcohol abusing or alcohol-dependent students do not attend screening programs and are not receiving alcohol counseling or treatment. Objectives: Characterize, among alcohol-dependent college students, those who seek help for alcohol problems compared to those who do not seek help. Methods: Secondary analysis of a cross-sectional study of a nation-wide sample of U.S. college students (1999 College Alcohol Study). Of the 14,115 respondents, 842 were identified as alcohol-dependent who drank in the past year. The outcome of interest was seeking (or not) help for alcohol problems while in college. Statistically and clinically significant predictor variables were first identified through multiple bi-variate analyses, and then entered into a combined stepwise regression model. Results: 6.1% of the alcohol-dependent students sought help. Significant predictors of seeking help were: being non-white (OR=2.8; 95%C.I.: 1.2, 6.5), ever thinking one had an alcohol problem (OR=44.6; 95%C.I.: 5.7, 349.6), being referred to alcohol treatment by the college (OR=4.8; 95%C.I.: 1.4, 16.9), getting away from troubles as a reason for drinking (important versus not important; OR=2.9; 95%C.I.: 0.9, 9.5), and use of other illicit drugs (drug count; OR=1.1; 95%C.I.: 1.0, 1.3). Significance: Only a fraction of alcohol-dependent college students seek help; those that do seek help are more likely to realize they have a problem. Further research should focus on methods that help alcohol-dependent college students recognize they have a problem.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: College Students, Alcoholism
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Handout (.ppt format, 150.0 kb)