Alcohol-related elevations in blood pressure among young adults on a college campus

Heavy drinking is a risk factor for elevated blood pressure (BP). Since young adulthood is the period when all patterns of alcohol consumption are most prevalent, it may explain variance in development of high BP later in life. The study purpose was to: (1) examine the prevalence of risky drinking and elevated BP among University of Georgia Health Center (UHC) patients, and (2) test the relationship between drinking and elevated BP. The analytic data for the study was de-identified data from medical records of students seen by the UHC between 12/05 and 11/06. Data were reduced to include only white or black students between ages 18 and 25 with data on BP N=16,989. Logistic regression models tested the relationship between drinking and BP adjusting for other health factors and demographics.

Preliminary results indicate that 28.4% reported some level of risky drinking and 42.2% BP readings above the JNC VII classification for normal. Most were: male (64.41%), white (82.63%), aged 21 to 25 (59.19%), of normal body mass index (18.5 to < 25) (68.65%), and non-smokers (82.22%). Females were significantly more likely than males to experience elevations in both systolic (OR=6.18, CI 5.45-7.00) and diastolic (OR=2.86, CI 2.52-3.25) BPs. Interestingly, heavy drinkers were less likely to experience elevations in systolic BP than those not engaged in risky drinking (OR=0.70, CI 0.60-0.82). No level of risky drinking presented significant risk or protection above not risky drinking for diastolic BP. Findings will contribute to understanding the etiology of hypertension as an alcohol-related problem.