Friday, February 1, 2013
Assignment 1: MMWR Binge Drinking Among Women and High School Girls
1. Briefly summarize the article (what are the main findings, where did the data come from).
The article studied binge drinking among women and high school girls. The data for women came from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a randomized telephone survey that assesses various health risk behaviors in U.S. adults aged 18 or older. The data for high school girls came from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) which essentially was the same study for a younger age group. The study had several useful results. There was a strong correlation between the level of binge drinking in women and high school girls. Women and high school girls who abused alcohol frequently usually also binge drank frequently. Those who binge drank tended to do so frequently and in high amounts.
2. Explain why you think this is an important public health issue.
As a college student female, the problem of binge drinking is one that affects me directly. Though I feel that Hopkins has done a good job of informing students of the dangers of binge drinking and focusing on the issue, many of my friends who attend universities that do not. The general consensus among my friends from universities has been that they focus more on the dangers of any alcohol abuse, without the specific focus on binge drinking. Though I am not suggesting that universities condone alcohol abuse, I think it's smart of a college campus to recognize that it does happen and to focus on preventing binge drinking specifically. Though I can see where some people would see this as a university condoning drinking, just not binge drinking, practically speaking, such an emphasis would probably do more to reduce the negative effects of alcohol abuse than campaigns focusing on drinking in general because students would actually pay attention to it.
3. Are you surprised by the results? Notice that the data source is a survey, might there be some issues with the accuracy of self-report data on alcohol consumption?
I was surprised by the figures showing that women and girls who drink regularly usually also binge drink. I would hope that campaigns focusing on binge drinking would reduce this correlation so that women and girls, especially those in college, who do drink do not also binge drink. I do think that there are some issues with the accuracy of the self-report nature of the survey and that unfortunately, the figures are probably lower than the actual numbers. However, I also think the survey, which I assume was either anonymous or assured participants of privacy, was close to the real figures.
4. How would you try to reduce the prevalence of binge drinking in college or high school age women?
As mentioned in the article, I think the most effective type of campaign against binge drinking would involve the use of figures and statistical evidence demonstrating the high likelihood of suffering the negative consequences of binge drinking.
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I think you did a great job in emphasizing your points of how binge drinking should be dealt with in relation to college students through your personal input and opinion. I would recommend adding supporting details that the article included, such as the fact that the highest frequency of binge drinkers are from college-aged students. Regardless, your point was still strongly pushed forth.
ReplyDeleteAs you said that many universities do not put a lot of emphasis on relaying information on binge drinking to their students, I agree with you completely. I also believe that the most effective way to combat such frequent binge drinking is through showing the consequences of such actions, since many students may not know all of the statistical data behind the negative outcomes of binge drinking.
Sally,
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job summarizing the article. With the second question, you make a very good point about being at risk for the issue at hand (after all, you are a college age female). When we think about public health issues, though, remember to turn your attention always to the population. (ie: Why is binge drinking important? Almost a quarter of women in certain age groups do this, and this is an age when many are having children which could affect the next generation, etc. etc.) Regarding question 4, I like your idea of a media campaign. I wonder, though, is this enough? Many intelligent, highly educated people who know the effects of binge drinking end up binge drinking the most...what's up with that? So, data shows us that educating the public isn't necessarily enough, although of course, as you point out, this is important. What else could we do? Tax alcohol? Raise the legal age of consumption? etc.
Erin