Abstract:
Background: Alcohol use among University students is a problem throughout the world. Studies
indicate that, alcohol use among adolescents is considerably raising and in particular University
students are mostly at risk. Alcohol use among students has an association with poor academic
performance, risky sexual behaviors and mental distress. Objective: To assess alcohol use
disorders and associated factors among Jimma University main campus students. Methods:
Institution based cross-sectional study design was used. Multi stage stratified sampling technique
was used to select 796 study participants. Standardized self administered structured
questionnaires, Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), Oslo 3 items social support
scale (OSS-3) and Kessler-6 (K6), were used to assess alcohol use disorders, social support and
psychological distress. Data was entered to Epi-Data version 3.1 and exported to and analyzed by
using SPSS version 21 for windows. Bivariate and multivariable regressions were performed to
explore factors independently associated with alcohol use disorders. Variables associated with
AUDs and with p-value of less than 0.25 on bivariate analysis were entered together into
multivariate logistic regression. Those variables with p-value of <0.05, with 95% CI on
multivariable regression was considered as predictors of AUD. Result: A total of 741 students
were participated in this study. The prevalence of Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) among Jimma
University main campus students was 26.5%. Proportion of participants with social drinking,
harmful drinking, hazardous drinking and possible alcohol dependence accounted for 19.6 %(
n=145), 16.6% (n=123), 6.3 %( n=47) and 8.0 %( n=59) respectively. Conclusion: The
proportion of students who have alcohol use disorders was significantly high. Being male, being
in a relationship, married/separated/divorced, having close friend who drink alcohol, having
history of mental illness, having history of suicidal attempt and having mental distress were
found to be predictors of AUDs on multivariate logistic regression, Therefore, it is recommend
that regulatory monitoring on alcohol use and intervention activities to bring behavioral change
