Rate of alcohol-induced blackout experience and its negative consequences among Korean university students

Abstract

An alcohol-induced blackout suggested to be related to a rapid increase in blood alcohol concentration and it is closely related to long-term memory creation. Blackout has been experienced by 35% of the general population and over 50% of university student population. In addition, it has been shown that blackout could be a precursor of injury risk. However, the rate of blackout and blackout related negative consequences in Korean university students have rarely been studied. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the blackout experience rate and its negative consequences among students from four universities in Korea. A survey was conducted among university students located in Pusan, Korea in 2013. Demographic and blackout related information were collected through self-report questionnaire, including blackout experience, age of first blackout, and negative consequences of blackout. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed for collected data. Of a total of 470 subjects (Male = 217, Female = 253) surveyed, 190 (40.4%) subjects had experienced a blackout at some points in their lives. The majority (86.3%) of them experienced the first blackout between 20–25 years old. Among those who had experienced a blackout, 57.0% reported that they could not remember how they went home at the end of the night, 8.1%, 7.6%, 3.1%, and 2.2% reported that they had bodily injuries, argument, physical or personal fight, and sexual-related incidences, respectively. This study shows that many Korean university students have experienced blackouts and related negative events. These results suggest that more systematic drinking control strategy is required for Korean university students.

Keywords:

• Alcohol-induced blackout
• university students
• negative consequence

Disclosure statement

The authors had no conflict of interests in conducting this study or preparing the manuscript.

Ethical statement

The present study has been carried out in accordance with Declaration of Helsinki. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed. The present study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Research Institute for Convergence of biomedical science and technology Grant (30-2021-004), Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital.