title: Prevalence of hazardous drinking among nursing students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the frequency of alcohol consumption among nursing students and describe their behaviour patterns in relation to excessive consumption.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Most alcohol-related problems appear in individuals who indulge in hazardous consumption, with hazardous drinkers constituting a priority in the field of preventive activities. According to previous studies, there is a high proportion of hazardous drinkers among university students.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over the course of the 2012-2013 academic year, we assessed 1060 nursing degree students, ascertaining their socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle and alcohol consumption by means of the Systematic Alcohol Consumption Interview (Interrogatorio Sistematizado de Consumos Alcohólicos/ISCA) and Alcohol Use Disorders Inventory Test (AUDIT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hazardous alcohol consumption was observed in 43·4% of students. Moreover, 14·9% of men and 18·7% of women met criteria for hazardous drinkers, without any statistically significant difference between the sexes. The frequency of hazardous drinkers was significantly higher among participants aged under 21 years, those living outside the family nucleus and smokers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A considerable proportion of students show evidence of hazardous alcohol consumption and, while there are no sex-related differences, the proportion of hazardous drinkers tends to be higher among the youngest subjects, smokers and persons living outside the family nucleus. Alcohol-prevention activities should envisage greater protection of university settings, particularly where future health professionals are involved.
authors.affiliation: Albacete Faculty of Nursing, University of Castilla-La Mancha (Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha/UCLM), Albacete, Spain.
authors.forename: Joseba
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rabanales Sotos
authors.forename: Ángel
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: López Gonzalez
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Párraga Martínez
authors.forename: Monchi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Campos Rosa
authors.forename: María José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Simarro Herraez
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: López-Torres Hidalgo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012923:Social Class; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: alcohol consumption; hazardous drinkers; nursing student; preventive activities; smoker