title: Underage alcohol drinking and medical services use in Hong Kong: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the association of underage alcohol drinking with medical consultation and hospitalisation in Hong Kong.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Secondary schools in Hong Kong.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 33 300 secondary 1 (US grade 7) to secondary 5 students (47.6% boys; mean age 14.6 years, SD 1.6) in 85 randomly selected schools.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous questionnaire was used to obtain information about medical consultation in the past 14 days, hospitalisation in the past 12 months, drinking alcohol, smoking, illicit drug use, physical activity, secondhand smoke exposure, feeling depressed, feeling anxious and sociodemographic characteristics. Drinking alcohol was categorised as non-drinking (reference), <1, 1-2 and 3-7 days/week. Logistic regression yielded adjusted ORs (AORs) of medical consultation and hospitalisation for drinking, adjusting for different potential confounders. Subgroup analysis was conducted among adolescents who did not report feeling anxious or depressed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More than one-fourth (27.6%) of adolescents drank alcohol, 15.9% had medical consultation and 5.1% had been hospitalised. In the fully adjusted model, the AORs (95% CI) for medical consultation were 1.14 (1.06 to 1.23) for <1 day/week, 1.30 (1.13 to 1.50) for 1-2 days/week and 1.70 (1.41 to 2.06) for 3-7 days/week of drinking compared with non-drinking (p for trend <0.001). The corresponding AORs (95% CI) for hospitalisation were 1.14 (1.02 to 1.28), 1.68 (1.32 to 2.14) and 2.38 (1.90 to 2.98) (p for trend <0.001). Similar associations were observed among students who did not feel anxious or depressed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Alcohol consumption was associated with medical services use in Chinese adolescents. More rigorous alcohol control policies and health promotion programmes are needed to reduce alcohol drinking and related harms in adolescents.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Man Ping
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Sai Yin
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Tai Hing
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lam
keywords: Epidemiology; Public Health