earticle

영어

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the patterns of drinking and secondly, to identify the factors associated with problem drinking among male military personnel in Korea. Methods: Cross-sectional self-reported data were collected from a randomly stratified sample population of 3,224 soldiers, non-commissioned officers (NCOs), and officers who were employed in 37 units in the Korean military. Data were statistically analyzed using Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: Among military men, 92.3% of officers, 91.5% of NCOs, and 73.8% of soldiers drank more than once a month. The prevalence of binge drinking and problem drinking was respectively 58.8%, 49.4% of officers, 61.0%, 51.8% of NCOs, and 32.3%, 27.0% of soldiers. In all, problem drinking was associated with socio-demographic and health related factors such as service, education, working years, smoking, injury, and stress level. Especially, ex and current smokers were most associated with problem drinking among all rank groups. Additionally, problem drinking of soldiers was associated with being a navy service, more educated, injured experience, and higher stress level and that of the NCOs was associated with years of working and higher stress level. Conclusion: The level of drinking of male military personnel was higher than male civilian and problem drinking was associated with certain socio-demographic and health related factors. Our findings suggest that effective intervention strategies to prevent problem drinking should be implemented across the military for rank specified group at greater risk and in conjunction with non-smoking, stress management and prevention of injury.