Investigating The Prevalence of Alcohol Consumption and Its Related Factors in 13 To 17-Year-Old Adolescents: Data Extraction From 55 Eastern Mediterranean Countries

Abstract

Background Alcohol consumption has become very common among adolescents in recent years and its prevalence varies in different countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of alcohol consumption and related factors in adolescents aged 13 to 17 years living in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). Methods The present study was a cross-sectional study that was performed on 191228 adolescents (girl, 51.1% of total) aged 13 to 17 years in 55 EMR countries. In this study, the data that were collected by the World Health Organization from students were used. In order to investigate the factors affecting alcohol consumption, univariate and multivariate logistics models with 95% confidence limits were used. Results The overall prevalence of alcohol consumption in adolescents was 18.2%, which was 19.2% and 17.3% in boys and girls, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that using marijuana for more than 10 days in a month (OR = 6.27, 95%CI: 5.12–7.68), smoking (OR = 3.68, 95%CI: 3.52–3.84), having sex (OR = 3.39, 95%CI: 3.24–3.55), being alone for more than 10 days (OR = 1.84, 95%CI: 1.66–2.037), having insomnia most of the time (OR = 1.68, 95%CI: 1.54–1.83), having suicide plan (OR = 1.47, 95%CI: 1.39–1.57), being 16 and older (OR = 1.41,95%CI: 1.33–1.48), being alone sometimes (OR = 1.41,95%CI: 1.33–1.48), daily activity (OR = 1.24, 95%CI: 1.19–1.29), being beaten for 1–9 days a month (OR = 1.20, 95%CI: 1.14–1.26) increased the chances of consuming alcohol, respectively. Parental supervision most of the time and parental awareness sometimes reduced the likelihood of consuming alcohol. Conclusions Due to the high prevalence of alcohol consumption among adolescents living in EMR countries, it is suggested that educational, preventive and health intervention programs be conducted to raise students’ awareness of the effects of alcohol consumption in schools.