An Exploration of Health Science and Nursing Students’ Knowledge and Behaviors Related to Alcohol: A Preliminary Investigation

Abstract

Purpose: To assess health science and nursing students Method: A descriptive exploratory design with survey methodology was used to carry out the study. The participants were a convenient sample of 154 undergraduate health science and nursing majors enrolled in twelve Midwestern Universities. The Alcohol Questionnaire was used to elicit information from participants. The Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated using knowledge about alcoholic beverages with Results: The results respectively were r = 0.17, p=0.0167, which implies that more knowledge was associated with more drinking; r = -0.12, p=0.0125, which implies that more knowledge was associated with drinking less often and r = 0.19, p=0.0125, which implies that more knowledge was associated with excessive drinking. The correlation coefficients fell within the range Discussion: The majority of respondents were generally very knowledgeable about alcohol but their behavior may be cause for concern because a third of the students binge drink. The pattern of behavior reported by this sample suggest a high-risk population who may not be aware of the health risks they are exposing themselves to through their excessive drinking behavior. Conclusion: The findings indicated that these students had good knowledge about alcohol but this knowledge was not associated with a lower likelihood of risky alcohol consumption. Binge drinking was common among 30% of the respondents. Healthcare professionals and educators should be concerned about students drinking behavior and determine what can be done to reduce problematic drinking.