ALCOHOL DRINKING AMONG STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LJUBLJANA

Background. Hazardous and harmful alcohol drinking is an important health, social and economic issue in Slovenia, also amongst adolescents and young adults. While drinking in Slovenia has been well researched amongst elementary and high school students, there exists a lack of research on drinking amongst young adults attending university. Methods. Cross sectional study. First year students of the University of Ljubljana attending the mandatory preventive health check between October 2009 and May 2010 filled out a non-anonymous lifestyle questionnaire. AUDIT-C screening questionnaire on alcohol use and questions on smoking and illicit drug use were also included. Multivariate and multilevel methods were used to analyse the data. Results. 7221 students filled out the questionnaire, of those 38.5% male and 61.5% female. 87.3% of students have drunk alcohol at some point in the last year. Amongst the students, 23.1% were hazardous or harmful drinkers. 61.4% of students have been drunk at least once in the last year. 11.8% of the students were abstainers. Male students, smokers and students with drug experience have higher odds of being harmful or hazardous drinkers. Student level variables account for most of the variability in harmful and hazardous drinking; only 2% of the variability was due to differences across universities. Conclusions. Students of the University of Ljubljana drank alcohol in large quantities. There was a marked link between hazardous drinking, smoking and drug use. Results of this study show the need for the formation of suitable preventive measures that would change drinking behaviour amongst the student population.