A descriptive study of welfare and mental health issues among health-related sciences undergraduate students at the Medical University of Gdansk

Purpose and methods: We surveyed a large sample of health-related sciences undergraduate students at the Medical University of Gdańsk (MUG), Poland in a pilot study to assess self-reported somatic/mental health-related issues, measure the level of burnout using Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI), the presence of depressive symptoms with Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item (PHQ-9) and assess the problematic alcohol intake (CAGE questionnaire). Additionally, stress coping mechanisms were investigated. Results: A total of 864 students participated in the survey. The mean total OLBI and PHQ-9 scores equalled 43.3 ± 2.7 and 11.3±5.8 points, respectively. The CAGE questionnaire was positive in 21.6% of students. Three most prevalent stress coping mechanisms included TV binge-watching, binge-eating and cigarette chain smoking (51.0%, 45.0% and 28.0% respectively). Conclusions: Future studies are required to confirm the obtained results, assess, and monitor trends and set-up interventions to improve the welfare of health-related science MUG students.

Abuse of alcohol among farmers: Prevalence and associated factors

We sought to identify the prevalence and factors associated with alcohol abuse among farmers living in a medium-sized municipality in northeastern Brazil during 2019 and 2020. Trained interviewers applied the standardized questionnaire to 450 participants. Sociodemographic, health, income and work characteristics were investigated. The tracking of alcohol misuse was done using the CAGE questionnaire (Cut down, Annoyed by criticism, Guilty and Eye-opener), being the cut-off point ≥ 2. Poisson Regression was applied with robust estimation to verify the reasons of prevalence (RP) in bivariate and multivariate analysis. The prevalence of alcohol abuse among farmers was 32% (95% CI 27.8–36.4). Factors such as being male, having a diagnosis of mental disorder in the family, being a smoker, and using drugs were associated with the higher prevalence of the outcome. Being 60 years old or older was associated with a lower prevalence of alcohol abuse. These results indicate the need for social support to this group of workers in the context of occupational health.

Problematic Alcohol Use in Pokhara, Nepal as Assessed by CAGE Questionnaire

Introduction: Nepal is known to be a hub for alcohol lovers. There is no restriction in sales despite efforts by the government of Nepal. Homemade alcohol is another major problem in the country. Although production and sale has legal policy it is far from being regulated. There has been no survey to assess the extent of problematic alcohol use in the Pokhara Municipality. This was conducted with the Objectives of i) assessing prevalence of problematic alcohol use in the community of a different Wards in Pokhara Metropolitan city and ii) To correlate this with various socio-demographic characteristics. Material And Method: The CAGE questionnaire was administered to all adult individuals above 20 years of age, in houses selected as convenience sampling in different wards of Pokhara Metropolitan city from Jan 2017 to Dec 2017. Nursing students in the community visit were trained and instructed to fill the preformed questionnaire as per the inclusion criteria after taking the consent. Individuals who were not currently undergoing treatment for alcohol use disorders were only included. Results: Among 136 adults who were included in this study, the prevalence of problematic alcohol use was found to be 64.7% (CAGE ≥2). The extent of current alcohol use (n. 124, 91.2 %,) and problematic alcohol use (n. 82, 66.12%) were significantly high (P-value: 0.0001). Conclusion: The prevalence of problematic alcohol use is too high in Pokhara, a tourist destination in Western Nepal. There is an urgent need to formulate a policy for alcohol use in the community taking into account the findings of this study. The distinction of traditional sanction of alcohol users and non users did not apply to this study. Problematic alcohol use was significantly high with no treatment initiate.

Alcohol consumption in Austrian physicians

Background Alcohol is one of the leading exogenous causes for adverse health consequences in Europe. The aim of the present study was to examine the pattern of alcohol consumption in Austrian physicians. Methods A telephone survey was conducted in 400 office-based physicians in Austria. Our questionnaire included the four questions of the CAGE questionnaire and questions to assess alcohol consumption on the previous day. Results 131 participants (32.8%) completed the interview. 3.8% of the subjects had a CAGE score of 2 or higher indicating a problem with alcohol, but this rate was not statistically different from numbers reported for the general population (4.1%). 46.6% of our subjects had drunken alcohol on the previous day. Compared to the general population, the rate of having drunk alcohol yesterday was higher in both gender of our sample, but the amount of alcohol drunk was significantly lower. Doctors in rural areas had drunken alcohol more frequently and in greater quantities on the previous day than those in urban areas. There was a positive correlation between age and the amount of drinking on the previous day, and between age and CAGE scores. Furthermore, subjects who had consumed alcohol yesterday obtained higher scores on the CAGE. Conclusions Our findings indicate that the rate of Austrian physicians with problematic alcohol consumption is similar to the general population. Physicians in rural areas and older doctors might be of higher risk for alcohol abuse.