Factors Affecting Blood Pressure and Stress according to the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test Scores among Undergraduate Students

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of general, health, and alcohol-related characteristics on blood pressure and stress according to the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). METHODS: This was a descriptive study. From participants in the 2013 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 319 participants who responded to the survey when they were attending college or university were selected. Data were analyzed using the SPSS Win 23.0 program for composite sample data reflecting the composite design elements of stratification, colonization, and weighting. RESULTS: Mean age of onset of alcohol drinking was 17.91±0.16 years, the average AUDIT score was 7.56±0.41, and 25 (9.1%) participants fell into the high-risk drinking group. In the high-risk AUDIT group, systolic blood pressure was influenced by age, gender, institution, health status, body mass index, and suicidal ideation, and the explanatory power of the model (R2) was 75.0%. For diastolic blood pressure, institution and health status were the influential factors, and R2 was 66.2%. Predictors of stress were health status, depression, and the age of onset of drinking, and R2 was 57.2%. CONCLUSION: It was confirmed that the explanatory power of the variables in models of systolic and diastolic blood pressure and stress is greater in those with higher scores on AUDIT.