Prevalence of alcohol consumption in nursing students

Alcohol consumption is a public health problem that affects university students. The legality of alcohol facilitates consumption among the young and makes it the most used drug in this population, impacting health and university education.

To identify alcohol consumption among nursing students of a public institution in Minatitlán, Veracruz, Mexico.

Descriptive cross-sectional study, conducted between October and November 2020. A total of 260 nursing students participated voluntarily and anonymously. The information was collected using two instruments. The first one inquired about personal data, and the second one evaluated drinking through the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT).

We found that 64.6% of students reported drinking at least once, with a mean age at drinking onset of 16.3 years. The preferred beverage was beer (53.6%), and the main providers of alcoholic beverages were friends (62.5%) and family (34.5%). A total of 59.6% of students had a low risk drinking patter, 4.6% had a high-risk drinking patter, and 0.4% reported dependence. There were no significant differences between drinking patterns and leisure time activities (X2 = 25.970; p = 0.355). There was a significant relationship between students' alcohol consumption patterns and age, current semester, drinking at least once, and drinking with family and friends (p < 0.01).

There is a close relationship between the initiation and maintenance of alcohol consumption with nursing students' social, family, and school context. These findings should encourage health programs that follow up on alcohol consumption during university training.