Alcohol training and alcohol habits of the medical students

Abstract

Background The disease burden attributable to harmful use of alcohol is significant and in many countries public health problems caused by it represent a substantial health, social and economic concern. Across Europe, there is a clear gap in act the potential health interventions to reducing the alcohol harm. In primary health care settings, commonly fewer than 10% of people at risk of becoming hazardous and harmful drinkers are identified and fewer than 5% of those who could benefit from brief interventions are offered them. The health sector workforce in Europe is an enormous resource with great potential to affect positive change in alcohol-related diseases. Aims The level of alcohol training and alcohol habitsof the medical students in the University of Catania, Italy were investigated. Methods A cross-sectional study involving 5th year medical students was carried out. Students were recruited during lectures and a self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect alcohol training data. Alcohol habits were screened by the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test. Results A total of 170 students participated in the survey, aged between 22 and 30 years. 54.5% knows the meaning of "degree of alcohol". 72.0% knows the limit set by the highway code. 90.9% said that cannot recover from alcohol dependence syndrome. 15.9% of students think that a person must be an alcoholic to have health problems derived from alcohol. 80.3% of students know that drinking alcohol affects driving. The 87.9% know that alcohol causes intoxication stronger when mixed. 30% of the students are aware that in Italy the sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited for children under 18 years. Harmful alcohol use was more prevalent among male (4.5%) than female students (3.0%).Hazardous drinking was found in 0.8% of studied subjects, more among men than women. Conclusions This study highlights the need for a greater and more relevant focus of alcohol education to medical students.