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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Nia K. Davis, MEd¹, Lorelei D. Cropley, DrPH, CHES², Dieula Delissaint, MPH¹, Reggie I. Louis¹, B. Lee Green, PhD, MEd¹, Dhananjaya Arekere, PhD³, and Brian Rivers, PhD³. (1) Center for the Study of Health Disparities, Texas A&M University, 4222 TAMU, 112 Harrington Tower, College Station, TX 77845, 979-862-2964, nkdavis@hlkn.tamu.edu, (2) Department of Educational Leadership, Counseling and Foundations, University of New Orleans, Education Building Room 348, 2000 Lakshore Drive, New Orleans, LA 70148, (3) Center for the Study of Health Disparities, Texas A&M Univeristy, 4222 TAMU, 112 Harrington Tower, College Station, TX 77845

Alcohol use among college students continues to be an area of concern among health professionals. Driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) laws setting Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) limits are designed to deter and reduce drinking and driving among an entire population of drivers. However, these DUI laws can act as a deterrent only to the extent that people are aware and knowledgeable of the laws. There is limited understanding about these levels. The purpose of this study was to assess awareness, attitudes and experiences regarding DUI laws among college students from an urban university. A 14-item questionnaire was used to collect data via central location intercept interviews. The sample consisted of 261 college students between the ages 18-30 years (mean age 21 years). Results indicate that nearly 2% of the respondents indicated a DUI-related arrest. Also, 35% of the respondents reported driving a vehicle under the influence over the last 30 days prior to completing the survey. Accurate knowledge about blood alcohol level was reported by only 6.5% of the respondents. Further, 63.5% of the respondents who were frequent binge drinkers reported operating a vehicle despite knowing full well that they had consumed excessive about of alcohol. Future research efforts should examine if the low levels of awareness about DUI laws and knowledge level about the blood alcohol level is reflective of the college student population. Education institutions should aggressively pursue implementing and evaluating educational programs that are appealing to college students.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify environmental influences on binge drinking.
• Describe the importance of incorp policy into health promotior.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered