Association Between Alcohol Use Among College Students and Alcohol Outlet Proximity and Densities

Alcohol consumption is common on college campuses and is associated with negative consequences. Factors associated with availability of alcohol are not completely understood.

To describe how proximity and density of alcohol outlets are associated with any drinking and binge drinking in students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Participants were full-time students enrolled in the Young Adults Eating and Active for Health, a multisite, randomized intervention that assessed a variety of health behaviors. Geographic information systems were used to calculate proximity and enumerate alcohol outlet densities. Participants were categorized as "drinkers" or "nondrinkers" based on self-reported alcohol consumption. Binge drinking was categorized as "non-binge drinker," "frequent binge drinker," and "excessive binge drinker." Analysis included regression, t tests, and chi-square tests. RESULTS. Among the 166 participants, 126 (76%) were drinkers. Among drinkers, 80 (63%) were either frequent or excessive binge drinkers. Drinkers lived closer to an alcohol outlet than non-drinkers (0.18 +/- 0.15 vs. 0.61 +/- 1.59 miles, respectively, P=0.005). Within a 1-mile walking radius, there were 47% more establishments for drinkers (153 +/- 47 compared to 104 +/- 55 outlets for nondrinkers, P<0.0001). At distances of 0.10-0.25 and 0.25-0.50 miles, twice as many outlets were available to drinkers (19 +/- 19 and 43 +/- 25, respectively) compared to nondrinkers (7 +/- 11 and 20 +/- 22, respectively), P<0.001. Proximity and density were hot associated with binge drinking frequency.

Drinkers lived closer to alcohol outlets and had significantly more outlets available at a distance of up to 1 mile. Municipal and college administrators could consider limiting alcohol license distributions in municipalities with high alcohol consumption.