Binge drinking and health behavior in medical students.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of binge drinking and its relation to other health behaviors, drinking-related attitudes and perceived social norms among German medical students.


METHODS
271 first-year German medical students completed a cross-sectional, self-administered survey. A total of 252 (62% female and 38% male) students provided useable surveys. The mean age was 20.6years (S.D.=1.7).


RESULTS
Most students reported heavy drinking with 24% having one episode in the past 2 weeks (Infrequent Bingers) and 28% having two or more episodes (Frequent Bingers). Men were more likely than women to have had a binge drinking episode. Frequent binge drinkers saw more pros of drinking and reported a higher temptation to drink than students in the other groups. Additionally, they were more likely to smoke, use cannabis, not exercise and not eat fruits and vegetables. All students overestimated their peers' alcohol intake and binge drinking frequency.


CONCLUSIONS
Binge drinking was highly prevalent in this sample and clearly related to other health risk behaviors. Drinking rates were similar to college students in other Western countries. Future research needs to assess the consequences of this multiple risk behavior among medical students regarding academic and professional performance as well as personal health.
Keller
Stefan
S
Department of Public Health Sciences and Epidemiology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA.
Maddock
Jason E
JE
Laforge
Robert G
RG
Velicer
Wayne F
WF
Basler
Heinz-Dieter
HD
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D000431:Ethanol / Q000506:poisoning*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D015438:Health Behavior; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*
D000431:Ethanol