A survey of alcohol and other drug use behaviors and risk factors in health profession students

This survey assessed the alcohol and other drug (AOD) use habits and risk factors of health profession students at a mid western university health science center. The authors administered a 75-item survey to 1,707 students in selected classrooms: 984 students responded for a return rate of 57.6%. In 1990, they found, alcohol use among the health profession students in the past year was comparable to that of undergraduate college students nationally (86%), although significantly fewer health profession students drank heavily (27% had five or more drinks in the past 2 weeks, compared with 41% of college students). The percentage of health profession students who reported using tobacco or illicit drugs was lower than the percentage of undergraduate students who used these substances. At the time of the study, 16% of the respondents may have had a potential current alcohol problem and 3.5% a potential drug problem. Pharmacy students most often reported negative consequences from their AOD use. Peer pressure influenced the drinking decisions of 55% of the respondents; students in dentistry and pharmacy experienced the least support from peers for their decisions to abstain from drinking. Family histories of alcohol problems were reported by 38% of the respondents, and family histories of drug use by 14.8%. Male health profession students, when compared with the female professional students, drank more and experienced more consequences of their drinking or drug use and were also more influenced by peers.