PATRONES DE CONSUMO DE ALCOHOL EN ESTUDIANTES UNIVERSITARIOS MEDIANTE EL ANÁLISIS DE CLASES LATENTES PATTERNS OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS THROUGH LATENT CLASS ANALYSIS

Abstract

Introduction: Studies on alcohol consumption in university students generally include a single instrument to classify them. This limits the detection of other substances, conditioning the brief interventions and other preventive mea- sures. This study aims to review the patterns of alcohol by integrating the information provided simultaneously by several screening instruments. Method: The results of test AUDIT and Weekly Consumption Diary for the screening of alcohol problems and the DAST-10 test for drugs in 1309 university students were analyzed. The latent class analysis identifies subgroups with- in heterogeneous populations from multivariate data. Results: The method identified three latent classes or patterns: low alcohol consumption (75.2%); weekend consumption (18%); and high alcohol consumption with probable dependence (6.7%). The main finding is that drug use and binge drinking episodes appear in all categories of drinkers, including those traditionally considered low-risk or non problematic. Conclusions: the patterns found with the latent class analysis show the need to review preventive practices in reducing alcohol consumption, even with low consumption.