Alcohol consumption behaviors among athletic training students at accredited athletic training education programs in...

Alcohol consumption among college students has been evaluated at many levels, but assessment of alcohol consumption among collegiate athletic training students has not been substantially reviewed. Understanding the alcohol use of this college-age group adds to the overall literature on alcohol consumption of the college student population.

To assess the prevalence of hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption behaviors in collegiate athletic training students using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT).

A cross-sectional survey using the AUDIT.

The AUDIT questionnaire was sent to the program directors of all Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs-accredited athletic training education programs in the Mid-America Athletic Trainers' Association.

Fourteen of the 35 athletic training education programs agreed to take part in the study, yielding a 40% response rate. Three hundred and forty-eight of the 946 athletic training students (36%) solicited agreed to participate.

Maximum score on the AUDIT out of a possible score of 40.

The mean AUDIT score for the sample was 7.47, with an SD of 5.69. Thirty-seven percent of participants demonstrated an AUDIT score of 9 or above. Nearly 18% of participants reported having 6 or more drinks at one sitting on a weekly basis.

It is difficult to compare athletic training students' alcohol consumption with that of other student groups. The greater percentage of athletic training students does not drink in excess on a frequent basis.