Educational intervention for the prevention of alcoholism in teenagers

Abstract

Alcoholism in adolescence is a major health problem. Objective: To raise knowledge about alcoholism in adolescents in office 3 of the Mario Muñoz Monroy polyclinic. Method: A quasi-experimental community intervention study was carried out. The universe were 56 teenagers. Sociodemographic and biomedical variables were studied. Information was obtained from the survey conducted. The Chi Square and Odds Ratio tests were used. Results: 66.1 % of adolescents consumed alcoholic beverages and 46.4 % began consumption between 16 and 18 years of age. A predominance of alcohol consumption was observed at the secondary educational level, representing 50.0 %. The level of knowledge about Alcoholism before the Educational Intervention was applied in all age groups was inadequate, representing 92.9 %, while after the Intervention was applied, adequate knowledge predominated. It was observed that before the Intervention, 73.2 % had inadequate knowledge. After the Intervention was applied, only 8.9% maintained inadequate knowledge. Before the Intervention, 94.4 % of adolescents had an inadequate level of knowledge. After the Intervention was applied, 98.2 % had adequate knowledge. It was observed that 57.1 % of adolescents before the Intervention had inadequate knowledge. After the Intervention was applied, knowledge was adequate in 96.4 %. It was observed that before the Intervention, 60.7 % had inadequate knowledge about Alcoholism, which was modified after the Intervention, where only 1.8 % maintained inadequate knowledge. Conclusions: Once the Educational Intervention was applied, the patients reached an adequate level of knowledge, so it was feasible and effective.