Alcohol puts college students at risk

Extreme binge drinking puts college students at significant risk of alcohol-related accidents and injuries.

Researchers studied 12,900 American college students to assess the connection between alcohol consumption levels and alcohol-related injury risk. All the participants were interviewed and out of 12,900 students only 2,090 students were screened positive for risky drinking. Risky drinking included habits such as drinking on three or more days of the week, and having more than 15 drinks in a week for men, or 12 or more per week for women.

It was found that for each extreme-drinking day a man had in the past month, his risk of a drinking-related injury increased by 19 percent. That same risk increased by 10 percent for women. The students with a sensation-seeking personality (as measured by a standard questionnaire) had a higher risk of drinking-related injuries.

The researchers found that quantities alone, or frequency of consumption alone, did not show the whole picture. A drinking pattern of frequent extreme intoxication is key, as it escalates injury rates rapidly.

They concluded that those students who admitted to extreme drinking, i.e. eight or more drinks in a day for men, five or more for women, were more likely than their peers to have suffered a recent alcohol-related injury.

The fact that heavy drinking often leads to accidents and injuries is no secret, but the findings show that the risks continue to grow rapidly.