Failure of College Students to Complete an Online Alcohol Education Course as a Predictor of High-Risk Drinking That Requires Medical Attention

Abstract

Background: AlcoholEdu® for College and other computer-based education programs have been developed to reduce alcohol use and related problems among students. Objectives: This study investigated whether the failure of incoming first-year students to complete AlcoholEdu predicts future high-risk drinking that requires medical attention. Methods: A review of clinical records kept by a single university’s health service identified 684 undergraduates (classes of 2007–2011) who had presented for an alcohol event (September 2003 through June 2008). We used survival analysis to determine whether students who partially completed the course or failed to take it were disproportionately represented among student patients who presented with elevated blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Results: Students who failed to take the online course were 4.64 times more likely than those who completed it to experience an alcohol event (p < .0001), while those students who had partially completed the course were 1.52 times more likely (p < .0001). Amount of online alcohol education and gender were not significantly related to students’ measured BAC level. Conclusion: Students who had completed AlcoholEdu were less likely to present for an alcohol event than were students who partially completed or failed to take the course. Campus administrators should consider whether students who fail to complete an online alcohol course should be flagged for more focused interventions (e.g., brief motivational interview, mandatory education classes). Scientific Significance: This is the first study to show a relationship between first-year college students’ non-completion of an online alcohol course and subsequent high-risk drinking that requires medical attention.