Drinking behavior among female high school students in central Thailand.
OBJECTIVE
To study the drinking behavior and factors associated with drinking among female High School students in central Thailand.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study was conducted with 6,176 female students from central Thailand, who were classified into 2 groups according to their alcohol drinking practices in the past year (yes = 612, no = 5,564). Information was collected by an anonymous self-reporting questionnaire which consisted of 2 parts: socio-demographic factors, and alcohol drinking behavior during the past year from December 2007 to February 2008. Descriptive statistics, a chi-square test and multiple logistic regression were used to analyze the data.


RESULTS
Of all these respondents 9.91% admitted to drinking alcohol. Most of the students were 15 years old or younger (61.80%). Univariate analysis revealed that socio-demographic factors such as age, educational level, residence, grade point average (GPA), having a job for earning money, and having family members with alcohol or drug problems were significantly associated with the student alcohol drinking (p < 0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for age, showed that only four factors were associated with alcohol consumption: the educational level (OR mathayomsuksa 5 = 3.39, 95% CI = 1.55-7.41; OR mathayomsuksa 3 = 2.29, 95% CI = 1.71-3.09), residence in a private dormitory (OR = 3.32, 95% CI = 1.01-10.27) and family members with alcohol or drug problems (OR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.43-2.08), and a GPA greater than 3 (OR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.58-0.86) (p < 0.05). The following for drinking practices were considered as inappropriate drinking behavior (20% drank over 2 times a month, 40% drank greater than 2 standard drinks each time, nearly 47% had experienced binge drinking, and one third had experienced drunkenness).


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggested that preventive measures for alcohol abuse among female high school students should consider the educational level, residence within a private dormitory and family members with alcohol or drug problems. Continuous insistence regarding the disadvantages of alcohol to risk groups would reduce the proportion of new and current drinkers.
Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Wisit
W
Chaveepojnkamjorn
Natchaporn
N
Pichainarong
D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003469:Culture; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012067:Religion; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology