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U.Va. RESEARCHERS FIND SERIOUS HEALTH CONSEQUENCES ASSOCIATED WITH ALCOHOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS

Alcohol use is an uncommon but significant cause of emergency room visits for college students, according to researchers at the University of Virginia. Their study, which characterizes the incidence and the kinds of alcohol-related problems college students face, is published in the March edition of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol to be released Wednesday, April 14.

The findings also concluded that certain categories of college students, like those of legal drinking age, experience serious health consequences due to their misuse or abuse of alcohol. In fact, students 21 and over were more likely to be seen for alcohol-related problems than any other undergraduate age group.

“Since they are of legal age, they have more ready access to alcohol, and therefore are more likely to overindulge,” said Dr. James C. Turner, executive director of the Department of Student Health at U.Va., professor of clinical internal medicine and principal investigator of the study. “In addition, those students who are experiencing serious negative health consequences from drinking likely reach the legal age of 21 but without having any good sense of how to drink responsibly. Unfortunately, many young people of today don't see modeling of responsible alcohol consumption in the media and our alcohol educational efforts in secondary and post-secondary schools have failed to help them establish safe parameters or boundaries for those who engage in drinking.”

The observational study examined the medical records of students who visitedthe emergency room at the University of Virginia Medical Center. Demographic and clinical features of alcohol-related visits were gathered on 185 patients who were enrolled as undergraduates at a four-year public institution during two academic years from July 2000 through June 2002.

Further results showed that while 13 percent of all emergency room visits were related to alcohol, only 0.7 percent of all undergraduate students presented with alcohol-related medical conditions for both years. Injuries accounted for 53 percent of all visits while acute intoxication accounted for 34 percent. Of the injuries, 84 percent were from accidents, such as falling, while 16 percent occurred from fighting. Males and students 19 years and older also were more likely to experience some form of trauma. Acute intoxication occurred more frequently among females, students 18 years of age, as well as non-white students.   

“We believe our study helps to better define the degree to which college students are at risk from acute alcohol abuse,” Turner said. “We have established for the first time the actual incidence of alcohol-related emergency room visits among public college undergraduates. These patterns can help us target the highest risk groups with educational interventions.”

On the other hand, Turner adds, the study is reassuring because it shows that emergency room visits due to alcohol consumption are rare.

April 14, 2004