SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS AND KNOWLEDGE OF ALCOHOL USE BY UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS, NIGERIA / LES CARACTÈRES SOCIO-DÉMOGRAPHIQUES ET LA CONNAISSANCE DES RISQUES D’ALCOOLISME PARMI LES ÉTUDIANTS EN MÉDECIN DE L’UNIVERSITÉ DE LAGOS, NIGERIA
Abstract
Alcohol consumption and abuse among adolescents and young adults have been recognized as significant risk behaviors, increasing the likelihood of health problems, drunk driving, aggression, crimes, unsafe sexual activity, and accidents. The present study is to investigate the socio-demographic characteristics and the knowledge of alcohol use by undergraduate medical students of the University of Lagos, Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted amongst undergraduate medical students at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria, who voluntarily participated in the study and were recruited using a stratified random sampling method after ethical approval and informed consent were obtained. These students were recruited from the second (200 level) to the sixth (600 level) year in the medical programme. Three hundred and fifty carefully structured questionnaires were self-administered and include questions on sociodemographic characteristics and the knowledge of alcohol use by undergraduate medical students. Data analysis of the questionnaires completed by the participants was carried out using appropriate descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, v.27.0). Data of the present study indicate that there were statistically significant associations between the level or year of study (p=0.001), course of study (p=0.025), hall of residence (p=0.003), ethnic groups (p=0.001), monthly allowance (p=0.001) and alcohol consumption (p< 0.05), while no significant associations existed in the age, gender, religion, marital status and employment status of the medical students (p>0.05). These results suggest that interventions aimed at reducing alcohol consumption among the undergraduate medical students' population should take into account these socio-demographic factors. Alcohol use by these medical students requires preventive measures, screening, counselling, and health care services, to safeguard the health profession and the general populace.
La consommation d’alcool et l’abus d’alcool parmi les adolescents et jeunes adultes sont reconnus comme des risques qui touchent aux comportements humains ; à savoir : aux niveaux de santé, d’alcoolisme au volant, d’agression, des crimes, d’acte sexuel sans préservatif, et des accidents. Cette étude est une enquête des caractères socio-démographiques et la connaissance de risque d’alcoolisme parmi les étudiants en médecine de l’université de Lagos, Nigeria ; et c’est mené par consentement avec des sujets recrutés en faisant usage d’échantillonnage stratifié suivant un tirage au sort. Parmi ces sujets sont d’étudiants en deuxième, troisième, quatrième, cinquième et sixième année. Il y a eu trois cent cinquante copies de questionnaire bien structuré soumis aux sujets de façon personnelle et libre pour recueillir des réponses qui portent sur leur connaissance des risques d’alcoolisme et compte tenu de leur stratification démographique. Ensuite, il y a eu une analyse des données à partir des réponses fournies faisant usage de chi-carré, et SPSS version 27.0. Les résultats indiquent qu’il y a un lien étroit très signifiant entre l’année d’étude (à p=0.0001), la discipline médicale (p=0025), foyer de résidence (p=0.003), groupe ethnique (p=0.0001), l’argent de poche disponible à l’étudient (pp=0.0001) et consommation d’alcool (p=0.003). Or, aucun lien étroit signifiant n’existe entre l’alcoolisme et l’âge des sujets, genre, religion, état civil et le travail engagé par ces sujets. Ainsi, ces résultats proposent des interventions qui doivent viser la réduction de consommation d’alcool parmi les étudiants en médecin en tenant compte de ces facteurs socio-démographiques. Alors, des mesures préventives s’avèrent nécessaire par les moyens de dépistages, conseil, visite médicale, en vu de protéger la profession de santé et la population entière.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejphs.v7i1.169
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