Abstract
Reduction of excessive alcohol consumption still remains a significant challenge to the actions in the scope of public health of European citizens. The aim of this study is to present the prevalence of alcohol consumption and to estimate the occurrence of risky drinking among college students from the Polish, Slovak, Romanian, and Ukrainian parts of the Carpathian Euroregion, taking social contexts into account. The consumption of alcohol was estimated on the basis of the respondents' statements regarding the quantity and frequency of their consumption of beer, wine, and vodka. The study included people from the first year of undergraduate studies. The analysis used the Chi-square independence test and odds ratios (ORs). There were significant differences in the frequency of alcohol consumption, as well as the individual types consumed, among the respondents from the analyzed countries. Of the examined college students, 70% admit to occasional drinking. The pattern of dangerous alcohol consumption occurs in the case of approximately every seventh person. Risky drinking occurs with much greater frequency among male students rather than their female counterparts. In Romania, a very small percentage of female students engage in risky drinking. The analysis did not show statistically significant differences in the frequency of risky drinking between countries. The coexistence of other adverse health behaviors, such as smoking and alcohol abuse, was confirmed.
Highlights
Alcoholic beverages, in addition to tobacco products, are the most widespread and socially accepted psychoactive substances in all age groups over 15, and their abuse is classified as harmful to health [1, 2]
The aim of this study is to present the prevalence of alcohol consumption and to assess the occurrence of risky drinking among young people studying in the Carpathian Euroregion, taking into account the social context
The analysis described in this report is based on data collected from surveys completed by a total of 1686 randomly selected college students from four significant university cities in the Carpathian Euroregion: Presov (Slovakia), Lviv (Ukraine), Oradea (Romania), and Rzeszow (Poland)
Summary
In addition to tobacco products, are the most widespread and socially accepted psychoactive substances in all age groups over 15, and their abuse is classified as harmful to health [1, 2]. In a 2013 ranking of the top 25 leading health risk factors in the world, tobacco and alcohol were in the 2nd and 6th place, respectively [5]. Alcohol is a substance used by adolescents in early and late puberty, causing a serious public health concern [6,7,8]. Limits of alcohol consumption have been adopted by many countries to identify risky drinking; above these limits, people are exposed to a greater risk of experiencing detrimental health effects. The limits usually differ slightly among countries and cultures and, as in the case of Slovakia, there may be no official definition for the pure alcohol content of standard drinks [10]
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