ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO USE BY UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF MEDELLÍN, 2007

Objective: to identify the demographic, as well as the tobacco and alcohol use characteristics of undergraduate students from a Medellín, Colombia, well-known university during the first 2007 academic period. Methodology: a transversal descriptive study was carried of a representative population of 1.406 undergraduate students from the said educative institution. The study instrument was an auto-applied questionnaire. Results: during the study period 1.406 students were interviewed, with an average age of 20,8 years. Other general characteristics of the population were: 51,2% of the interviewed people was female and the predominant marital status was single (97,6%). Annual prevalence of 94,0% and 42,4% for alcohol and tobacco use were found, respectively. Alcoholism risk, according to the CAGE test, was 8%, while nicotine dependence risk was 6% according to the Fagerström test. Males and the 16-24 ages group have the highest substance use prevalence and the highest alcoholismand/or nicotine dependence risk. Conclusion: alcohol and tobacco use in this studied university is a problem deserving attention from health care offices.