ALCOHOL DRINKING HABITS AND ITS LEADING FACTORS OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS USING CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY DESIGN

Background: Alcohol-related leading factors are prevalent, and the important public health problem. Alcohol has represented the issue of the global burden of disease. Alcohol consumption requires a consideration of the amount of alcohol consumed and drinking habits. Thus, the primary objective of this study was to determine the leading factor of the alcohol drinking habits of undergraduate students at Mizan-Tepi University, Ethiopia.

Methods: The sample of 116 students interviewed and selected by using a stratified random sampling technique. The data were collected by using self-structured questionnaires. The Binary logistic regression model was correctly fitted the data and the Hosmer-Lemeshow test was used to test the goodness of fit of the model. SPSS statistical software version 20 was used to analyze the data and a cross-tab table was used to summarize the descriptive statistics and chi-square test of independence.

Result: Out of one hundred sixteen sampled students, sixty-two (53.4%) of students have alcohol drinking habit and fifty-four (46.6%) of students have not alcohol drinking habit. The chi-square test showed that gender of an individual (p-value=0.039), departments (p-value=0.009) and initiation (p-value=0.009) were significantly associated with alcohol drinking habit of students in Mizan-Tepi University at 5 % level of significance. The odds ratio of the mathematics department is 0.0076 times less likely to have alcohol-drinking habits as compared to biology department when all other variables are remaining constant. The study shows that alcohol-drinking habit of students is high.