Association Between Alcohol Use Among College Students and Alcohol Outlet Proximity and Densities.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption is common on college campuses and is associated with negative consequences. Factors associated with availability of alcohol are not completely understood.
OBJECTIVE: To describe how proximity and density of alcohol outlets are associated with any drinking and binge drinking in students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
METHODS: Participants were full-time students enrolled in the Young Adults Eating and Active for Health, a multisite, randomized intervention that assessed a variety of health behaviors. Geographic information systems were used to calculate proximity and enumerate alcohol outlet densities. Participants were categorized as "drinkers" or "nondrinkers" based on self-reported alcohol consumption. Binge drinking was categorized as "non-binge drinker," "frequent binge drinker," and "excessive binge drinker." Analysis included regression, t tests, and chi-square tests. RESULTS. Among the 166 participants, 126 (76%) were drinkers. Among drinkers, 80 (63%) were either frequent or excessive binge drinkers. Drinkers lived closer to an alcohol outlet than non-drinkers (0.18 +/- 0.15 vs. 0.61 +/- 1.59 miles, respectively, P=0.005). Within a 1-mile walking radius, there were 47% more establishments for drinkers (153 +/- 47 compared to 104 +/- 55 outlets for nondrinkers, P<0.0001). At distances of 0.10-0.25 and 0.25-0.50 miles, twice as many outlets were available to drinkers (19 +/- 19 and 43 +/- 25, respectively) compared to nondrinkers (7 +/- 11 and 20 +/- 22, respectively), P<0.001. Proximity and density were hot associated with binge drinking frequency.
CONCLUSION: Drinkers lived closer to alcohol outlets and had significantly more outlets available at a distance of up to 1 mile. Municipal and college administrators could consider limiting alcohol license distributions in municipalities with high alcohol consumption.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes