142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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309981
Examination of breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) levels, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C) classification, and plans for getting home among bar-attending college students

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Ryan J. Martin, PhD , Department of Health Education and Promotion, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
Beth Chaney, PhD, MCHES , Health Education and Promotion, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
Jennifer Cremeens, PhD, MSPH , Department of Health Education and Promotion, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
This study examined associations between (1) breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) levels and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C) classification (i.e., potential alcohol problem or no alcohol problem) and (2) BrAC and participant’s plans to get home that night (i.e., no plan, driving themselves, or a plan in which they do not drive) among a sample of bar-attending college students.

We conducted four anonymous field studies during fall 2013 to examine BrAC levels, alcohol use behaviors (using AUDIT-C), and plans for getting home among a sample of bar-attending college students (N = 633). Participants were self-reported drinkers who were bar patrons in the primary area of town where students frequent. One-way ANOVAs were conducted to examine associations.

 Among participants in our sample, the average BrAC level was .088 (SD = .053) and ranged from .000 to .243.  The majority of participants (558; 88.2%) met the threshold (AUDIT-C score of 4 or more for men or 3 or more for women) for a potential alcohol-related problem and had a plan to get home that did not involve them driving (603; 95.3%).  Our one-way ANOVAs indicated that (1) participants classified by the AUDIT-C as not having an alcohol problem had significantly lower BrAC levels (.066) than those classified as having a potential problem (.091) and (2) participants planning to drive had a significantly lower (p = .004) BrAC (.052) than those with a plan that did not involve driving (.090) and those without a plan to get home (.071).

Learning Areas:

Epidemiology

Learning Objectives:
Define the association between BrAC and AUDIT-C classification among participants in this sample. Describe the association between BrAC and plans to get home among participants in this sample.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have a PhD. in Health Education and Promotion and have been publishing and researching since 2007.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.