Knowledge Attitudes And Practices(KAP) Concerning Alcohol Intake Among Undergraduate Students In China And Ghana

BackgroundAlcohol intake among undergraduate students is gradually becoming a global burden and poses great threat to society. It was estimated to have caused1.8million deaths globally in2004. It caused9%death among people within age group of15-29. Identifying the knowledge, attitudes and practices among students and socio-cultural influence may help in developing strategies aimed at minimizing the harmful effects of alcohol on young people.ObjectivesAssess knowledge, attitudes and practices on alcohol intake of undergraduate students in China and Ghana (HUST and KNUST).Methods and MaterialsThis study was conducted as an observational cross-section survey. The subjects used under this study were undergraduate students from China and Ghana with no limitation to age and gender. A written informed consent was obtained from participants before commencement of the study. A well-structured self-administered questionnaire designed to assess students’KAP on alcohol intake was randomly used to gather data. Data obtained were entered into a database and analyzed using Epi-Data and SPSS (version13) respectively. Descriptive statistics such as mean and frequency distributions were used to present data.ResultsA total of720(Chinese=346and Ghanaians=374) undergraduate students were recruited from both China and Ghana to participate in the study. About322(93.1%) Chinese take in alcohol and24(6.9%) do not, and in Ghana about145(38.8%) take in while229(61.2%) do not. It was also revealed that KAP level was higher among Chinese than Ghanaian students. Chinese students’ knowledge scored17.64±2.78and that of Ghanaians was16.56±3.18. For attitudes and practices it was69.01±8.35,59.56±14.75, and57.15±7.3,50.39±12.05respectively for Chinese and Ghanaian students. The study revealed that mothers’educational background influenced alcohol drinking behavior than that of fathers. There was also a strong relationship between socio-cultural factors and alcohol drinking behavior among students. Friends and classmate had much influence.ConclusionThe findings of this study suggest that Chinese undergraduate students KAP level on alcohol intake is higher than Ghanaians, yet consume alcohol more than their peers in Ghana. It was also revealed that peers had influence on students’alcohol intake.