title: Heavy drinking and alcohol-related injuries in college students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of heavy drinking on alcohol-related injuries.
  
  
  METHODS
  We carried out an open cohort study among university students in Spain (n=1,382). Heavy drinking and alcohol-related injuries were measured by administrating AUDIT questionnaires to every participant at the ages of 18, 20, 22 and 24. For data analysis we used a Multilevel Logistic Regression for repeated measures adjusting for consumption of alcohol and cannabis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate at the beginning of the study was 99.6% (1,369 students). The incidence rate of alcohol-related injuries was 3.2 per 100 students year. After adjusting for alcohol consumption and cannabis use, the multivariate model revealed that a high frequency of heavy drinking was a risk factor for alcohol-related injuries (Odds Ratio=3.89 [95%CI: 2.16 - 6.99]). The proportion of alcohol-related injuries in exposed subjects attributable to heavy drinking was 59.78% [95%CI: 32.75 - 75.94] while the population attributable fraction was 45.48% [95%CI: 24.91 - 57.77].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We can conclude that heavy drinking leads to an increase of alcohol-related injuries. This shows a new dimension on the consequences of this public concern already related with a variety of health and social problems. Furthermore, our results allow us to suggest that about half of alcohol-related injuries could be avoided by removing this consumption pattern.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, (CIBERESP); Department of Preventive Medicine, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Ourense, Spain. Electronic address: lucia.moure@rai.usc.es.
authors.forename: Lucía
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moure-Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, (CIBERESP).
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caamaño-Isorna
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doallo
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, (CIBERESP).
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Juan-Salvadores
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corral
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: Socorro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Holguín
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cadaveira
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescentes; Adolescents; Alcohol Drinking; Cohort Studies; Consumo de Bebidas Alcohólicas; Epidemiology; Epidemiología; Estudios de cohortes; Injuries; Lesiones; Prevención Primaria; Primary Prevention