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MMed, Epidemiology and Biostatistics,University of the Witwatersrand, 2009 / Background: South Africa is one of the countries with the highest Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevalence in the world. The main mode of transmission in South Africa is via heterosexual intercourse. Thus there is the need to identify factors associated with HIV high risk sexual behaviour to inform future intervention programmes. Objective: To determine the association between alcohol consumption and high risk sexual behaviour in South African adults in 2006. Methods: Secondary data analysis of cross sectional study involving 1544 adult males and females, between 16-65 years interviewed in the Soul City National Survey. A multi-stage, stratified and clustered probability sampling technique was used. Univariate and multivariate analysis was done using student t test, chi square test and logistic regression models. Results: The prevalence of alcohol consumption in the week prior to the survey was 24.4% (95%CI: 22.2-26.6). The prevalence of heavy episodic drinking in last one month was 17.5% (95%CI: 15.5-19.4). There was an association between broad socioeconomic conditions and sexual behaviour particularly age, sex and race (P<0.05). The mean age at sexual debut was 17.13 (SD 2.61) years in the males and 17.91 (2.45 SD) years in females (P<0.001). Of the sexually active respondents, 12.7% and 4.2% of the men and women respectively had multiple partners currently (P<0.001). Generally consistent condom use was more in men although, only 10.3% of the men and 5.6% of the women used the condoms consistently with their casual partners (P=0.28). Multivariate regression showed that alcohol use predicted having multiple partners (AOR 2.37; 95%CI 1.19-4.69 and AOR 4.15; 95%CI 1.37-11.97) for moderate and problem drinkers respectively. Also, heavy episodic drinking predicted having multiple partners by three times (AOR 3.21; 95%CI 1.69-6.39). There was a significant dose response relationship for having multiple partners (P<0.05). As regards unprotected sexual intercourse, although not significant, female drinkers were found to be protected from inconsistent condom use with a casual partner. Male drinkers on the other hand, were found to be at a higher risk of having unprotected sex with casual partners. Perceptions of susceptibility to HIV (AOR 0.31; 95%CI 0.17-0.56), and alcohol related harm (AOR 0.17; 95%CI; 0.22-0.71) influenced consistent condom use with casual partners. Also regards gender differences, women who drank alcohol (AOR 9.68; 95%CI 1.31-17.45 vs. 1.17; 0.28-4.89) or were heavy episodic drinkers (AOR 4.45; 95%CI 1.46-3.55 vs. 2.43; 1.03-5.92) had a higher probability of having multiple partners than men. Conclusion: There is a strong association between risky alcohol use and high risk sexual behaviours. HIV prevention programmes need to address reduction in alcohol intake and changes in drinking pattern. Further research to disentangle the relationship between condom use and alcohol use is needed.

In my thesis I deal with students drinking regime of University of Economics. In the theoretical part was literature review available literature related to the topic. I caught the theme from different perspectives. First I dealt with the question of how the human body manages water, in the second part I focused on various kinds of drinks from the perspective of their suitability or unsuitability of involvement in drinking regime. In the third (research) part I focused on what is the generic composition of beverages involved in drinking mode, the volume of ingested fluid, the timing of income, the environment, the manner in which it is implemented drinking regimen University of Economics. In the practical part of the research methodology is described. I chose the questionnaire method, which was used for respondents University of Economics. I used a questionnaire of our own design.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of parental divorce, level of family conflict, and family history of alcoholism on the alcohol use patterns of college students. Gender differences were also explored. Multivariate Analysis of Variance revealed mixed results. Parental marital status was found to have no significant effect on college students' alcohol behavior. High family conflict had a significant impact on both level of current alcohol use and level of alcohol related problems. A positive family history of alcoholism was found to have effects on the level of alcohol related problems encountered by students. Gender played a significant role, with males reporting higher levels of alcohol-related problems. No significant interactions were found. Results, contributions and limitations of the study are discussed.

The Drinking Habits of Children in Middle Childhood and Its Compliance in Selected Basic Schools This thesis studies the drinking regime of children in middle childhood with a focus on the drinking schedule at school. The paper describes the importance of water in the human body and the effects of dehydration. Further research has been done from several different sources about water requirements of children. Particular attention has been paid to the drinking habits in schools with respect to the law. Personal research was conducted in the form of a questionnaire. This survey was completed by children in middle childhood during the day in school in the first grade of selected primary schools regarding their drinking habits. Individual survey results are given and analyzed. Based on the survey conducted and information taken from the available sources, a recommendation for educational practice has been formulated.

Abstract Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is often the leading cause of death and the most common cause of permanent disability in children and young adults. The hospital admission rates as well as the incidence and mortality rates of TBI vary enormously in different countries and populations. Even though alcohol misuse is a well-known modifiable risk factor for TBI and other injuries, few studies have been carried out on drinking patterns in relation to TBI, alcohol's role in recurrent brain injuries as well as TBI in relation to alcohol use in children and adolescents. The Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort was used to study the epidemiology and recurrence of TBI as well as alcohol use by children with TBI by the age of 14 years and those who sustained TBI later in life. The role of parents' alcohol misuse on children's TBI was also studied. The incidence of TBI in the whole study population was 118/100 000 person-years (PY), and the pediatric incidence of TBI (children aged under 16 years) was 130/100 000 PY. Up to the age of 10 years, the occurrence of TBI did not differ by gender, but after that age, boys and men had a higher incidence compared to girls and women. Mortality from TBI in the whole study population was 14/100 000 PY. Parental alcohol misuse and male gender were significant risk factors for the occurrence of TBI in childhood. Drinking to intoxication at the age of 14 years was a more common habit of TBI subjects than controls, especially among girls. Frequent alcohol drinking and drunkenness reported at the age of 14 years as well as male gender were independent predictors of TBI later in life. An alcohol-related first TBI and urban place of birth were found to be significant risk factors for recurrent TBI. A significant positive correlation between first and recurrent TBIs with respect to alcohol involvement was observed. Alcohol drinking and parental alcohol misuse should be recognized among children and adolescents with acute TBI. Because alcohol drinking predicts the recurrence of TBI, a brief intervention focused on drinking habits is needed as an immediate preventive measure.

Kunskap om ungdomars alkohol- och drogvanor är en viktig aspekt i förhållande till socialt arbete. Kunskaperna kan bidra till verktyg för att kunna göra rätt bedömningar och insatser. Med detta som utgångspunkt har denna studie utförts med syftet att undersöka uppfattningar om alkohol och droger hos ungdomar mellan 13-15 år. Studien är utförd med en kvantitativ ansats. Ett utskick av 164 enkäter gick ut till högstadieelever på en skola i Mellansverige. Studien bygger bland annat på faktorer som könskillnader, debutålder, hur och var eleverna får tag på alkohol och droger samt om det finns samband mellan dessa. De signifikanta resultaten från studien har visat att ungdomar med högre konsumtion av alkohol eller en allt lägre debutålder för alkoholdrickande löper en högre risk för att testa droger än de ungdomarna med en högre ålder för alkohol debut och en lägre konsumtion av alkohol. Studien visade också att ungdomar som får alkohol utköpt av någon i hemmet löper en högre risk för att ha en intensivkonsumtion av alkohol jämfört med ungdomar som ej fick alkoholen utköpt av någon i hemmet. Resultaten har sedan jämförts med tidigare nationell- och internationell forskning. Gällande könskillnader visade resultaten visade bland annat att pojkarna i studien hade en lägre debutålder för alkohol än flickorna. / Knowledge of youth alcohol and drug habits is an important aspect in relation to social work. Knowledge can contribute to the tools to make the right judgments and actions. With this in mind, this study has been performed with the intent to investigate the perceptions of alcohol and drugs among young people aged 13-15 years. The study was conducted with a quantitative approach and was distributed to 164 to students at a school in the middle of Sweden. The study is based on factors such as gender differences, onset/debut age, how and where students get hands on alcohol and drugs, and if there were a correlation between them. The significant findings of the study has shown the link between young people with higher consumption of alcohol or a lower onset age of alcohol drinking are at higher risk for testing drugs and showed that young people who get alcohol out bought by someone in the home are at higher risk of having a binge of alcohol. The results were then compared with previous national and international research. Concerning gender differences the results showed that the attending boys in the study had a lower debut age of alcohol drinking compared to the girls.