Adolescent drinking and self-rated health in Hong Kong

Abstract

Introduction and Aims: Studies on the association between adolescent drinking and self-rated health (SRH) are few, invariably from Western countries, where drinking is common, and with conflicting results. We investigated the association between suboptimal SRH and adolescent drinking in Hong Kong, where drinking prevalence was relatively low. Design and Methods: A school based-survey was completed by 61 810 secondary students (50.4% boys; mean age 14.9±2.0) from 79 randomly selected schools in 2011. Logistic regression yielded odds ratios of suboptimal SRH (suboptimal: fair or poor vs. optimal: extremely good, very good or good) for drinking frequency and type of alcohol drunk adjusting for each other, smoking status, socio-demographic characteristics and school clustering effect. Results: Drinking prevalence was 22.3% for <1 day/month, 10.3% for 1–3 days/month and 3.9% for at least 1 day/week. Prevalence of suboptimal SRH increased with drinking frequency from 24.8% for non-drinking to 32.7% for at least 1 day/week. Compared with non-drinking, the adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for suboptimal SRH were 1.13 (1.06–1.20) for <1 day/month, 1.22 (1.16–1.20) for 1–3 days/month and 1.33 (1.19–1.49) for at least 1 day/week (P for trend <0.001). Suboptimal SRH was significantly associated with drinking spirit (1.23, 1.10–1.37), but not other types of alcohol. Discussion and Conclusions: In Hong Kong Chinese adolescents, suboptimal SRH was associated even with infrequent drinking of <1 day/month and the strength of association increased with drinking frequency. Drinking spirit seemed to be particularly harmful to SRH. Implications: As serious alcohol-related diseases occur mainly from middle-age, our findings on the immediate harm of alcohol use can be used in medical consultations and health interventions to deter adolescents from drinking. Parents who are permissive about adolescent drinking should also be warned about the potential harmful effect on self-rated health.