RT Journal Article
T1 Changes in alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 among firstyear university students in Spain, considering the risk of problematic use - UniHcos project
A1 Botella Juan, Lorena
A1 Delgado Parrilla, Ana
A1 Fernández Villa, Tania
AB The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prevalence ratesand self-reported changes in patterns of alcohol use among first-year university students in Spain,considering the risk of problematic alcohol use. A serial cross-sectional study based on the uniHcosproject was carried out. Data from 10 518 first-year university students (73.3% female, mean age 19(SD ¼ 1.6)) collected between 2012 and 2022 were analysed. The evolution of the pooled prevalence ratesduring the time series was analysed and the risk of problematic alcohol consumption was assessed usingthe AUDIT. Also, self-reported changes in alcohol use patterns during the pandemic were assessed. Accordingto the results, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of alcohol use in the past 30-dayswas reduced (76.3% in 2019 vs. 63.7% in COVID-19) increasing again in the New Normal period. Thus, asimilar pattern in the practice of binge drinking was observed. Regarding the AUDIT score, 21.7% (95%CI20.9, 22.6) of the students had harmful alcohol consumption, with a higher proportion among males. Inthe multivariable logistic models, a higher AUDIT score was significantly associated (p-value < 0.001)with being male and living with roommates. According to self-reported changes in consumption patternsduring the COVID-19 pandemic, a higher proportion of participants with harmful use reported an increasein alcohol consumption compared to those at low-risk (43% vs 19%). Finally, despite the overallreduction in drinking prevalence during COVID-19, changes were not equal for all students anddepended on their previous level of problematic drinking, highlighting that this should be considered inthe development of strategies against alcohol use in this population.
PB Elsevier
SN 0741-8329
SN 1873-6823 (electrónico)
YR 2024
FD 2024
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/24724
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/24724
LA eng
NO Botella-Juan, L., Morales-Suárez-Varela, M., Amezcua-Prieto, C., Mateos-Campos, R., Ayán-Pérez, C., Molina, A. J., Ortiz-Moncada, R., Delgado-Parrilla, A., Blázquez-Abellán, G., Delgado-Rodríguez, M., Alonso-Molero, J., & Fernández-Villa, T. (2024). Changes in alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 among first-year university students in Spain, considering the risk of problematic use – UniHcos project. In Alcohol (Vol. 120, pp. 133–141). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcohol.2024.06.008
NO This research was funded by National Drug Plan from the Ministryof Health, Social Services and Equality of Spain: 2010|145,2013|034, 2020|030; Instituto de Salud Carlos III: PI16/01947. LorenaBotella-Juan: predoctoral contract financed by Junta de Castillay Le ondConsejería de Educaci on (Spain) using the European SocialFund (EDU/842/2022).
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 10 may 2026