Consumption of alcohol among students of the University of Novi Sad

Aim To determine the extent of alcohol consumption amongstudents in Novi Sad.Method This research was conducted among students of theUniversity of Novi Sad in the period from October 2010 untilApril 2011. The study involved 800 students from the first andfinal study years (age from 20 to 24), both sexes were equallyrepresented. A special questionnaire was designed for thisstudy.Results As many as 728 (91%) respondents consumed alcoholat least once in a lifetime (p<0.001), there was a highprevalence of occasionally and everyday alcohol usage amongstudents in 653 (81.6%) cases. Male students, 351 of them(87.7%), consumed alcohol more frequently as compared tofemales (p<0.06). In most cases students of both sexes had thefirst contact with alcohol at the age of 15 (p>0.05). There was alarge percentage of female respondents who consumed alcoholonce a month 210 (52.5%) as compared to male respondents137 (34.3%) (p<0.01). There was a statistically significant correlationbetween alcohol consumption and achieved academicperformance (p<0.01).Conclusion These results indicate the necessity of primaryprevention and organization, comprehensive and preventiveactivities with adolescents.