A comparison of responses to alcohol expectancy questionnaire (CEOA) of Indian and Malaysian medical students.

ABSTRACT

Alcohol addiction is a social problem faced by every country worldwide. Young people are more at risk of this menace. In spite of a clear knowledge and message about the effects of alcohol on individual health and social fabric, it is hard to curb the overuse of this beverage. In the present study, we compared the outcome of a survey using Comprehensive effects of Alcohol (CEOA) in two private Medical institutions in two Asian countries, viz. KMC, Mangalore, India (n=180) and AIMST, Kedah, Malaysia (n=170). The study included both males and female students. The result suggested that the negative reinforcement responses were rated higher in both the study groups. But those who have tasted alcohol before had a higher rating that alcohol may cause positive reinforcement. Both groups of respondents showed similar trend suggesting that the alcohol expectancies are similar in Indian students and Malaysian students. From the results we could conclude that the responses of the two sample groups were comparable to each other. While the male respondents were inclined show higher affinity towards acceptance of alcohol females are very much less so. However, the respondents of both groups appeared to be well aware of the negative aspects of alcohol. Importantly previous exposure to alcohol intake dramatically changed the perception and showed increased inclination towards alcoholism. This study thus provides an important clue to the clinician, counselors and parents regarding the importance of guiding the young people about the alcoholism.