Alcohol drinking was linked to self-rated health in different populations, but the observed association was inconsistent. We studied the association among university students across three European countries with different patterns of drinking.
We analyzed data from three universities, one from each country: Germany (beer dominant), Bulgaria (wine dominant), and Poland (unclassified among youths, spirits dominant in adults) (
Poor self-rated health and worsened health since previous year were associated with problem drinking {odds ratio 1.82 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.21–2.73] and 1.61 (95% CI 1.17–2.21), respectively}, but not with a higher frequency of drinking. In contrast, not caring for one’s own health was associated with frequent drinking [1.40 (95% CI 1.10–1.78)], but not with problem drinking [1.25 (95% CI 0.95–1.63)]. The results were consistent across the studied countries and for both sexes.
The health status of university students was associated with problem drinking. A high frequency of drinking was associated with the lack of care of own health, but it was not associated with current health status. These associations were independent of the predominant pattern of drinking across the studied countries.