[Alcohol consumption and drug use among middle school students aged 13-15 in 4 cities of China].
OBJECTIVE
To provide data on alcohol consumption and drug use among middle-school students aged 13-15 in 4 cities of China, and to provide evidence for developing intervention strategies on adolescents alcohol and drug use.


METHODS
Standardized sample selection process of two-stage cluster-sampling was used in middle-school students in Beijing, Hangzhou, Wuhan and Urumchi. A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted in Sept. 2003 and data was analyzed by Epi Info software.


RESULTS
Among 7344 students from grade 1 to 3, 36.5% had tasted while 14.4% had drunk alcohol in the past 30 days. 9.9% had experienced drunkness, 5.1% had been in trouble because of drinking, and 1.6% had ever used illegal drugs. Significant differences had been found in all the cities. Higher graders, older students and boys had higher rates of alcohol and addictive drug use than low graders, younger students and girls. 51.9% had been taught on take alcohol safety and another 27.6% on skills of rejecting alcohol, during the past school year.


CONCLUSIONS
The current situation of alcohol and addictive drug use among Chinese middle-school students aged 13-15 seemed to be quite critical, suggesting that it is necessary to carry out relevant health education in accordance with different characteristics in area, gender and age of the students.
Qian
Lian
L
National Institute for Health Education, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100011, China.
Yi
Hou-guang
HG
Tian
Ben-chun
BC
Zhang
Wei
W
Zhang
Ji-bin
JB
D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013334:Students; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*