Student Health Services

OSU has had a long commitment to gathering health behavior data related to alcohol and other drug use and its consequences. Currently, there are no broad-based screenings done for employees to determine the level of use by these groups. Since 2000 Student Health Services has participated biennially in the National College Health Assessment (NCHA, revised in 2010 to become NCHAII). During Spring Term 2012 the NCHAII was administered and data are available from that survey. The overall student response rate for the NCHAII at OSU was 90.5% with 1147 respondents. OSU data from the previous survey are shown for comparison. The NCHA allows for reporting estimated number of drinks consumed by OSU students and an estimate of the blood alcohol level (BAL) that students obtained as compared to national averages.

Table 1. 2012 ACHA-NCHA Data for Frequency

Table 2. 2012 ACHA-NCHA Data for BAL Measures

Table 3. 2012 OSU NCHA Data - Frequency Use/Negative Consequences

Besides understanding negative consequences, it is important to determine the level at which OSU students are engaging in behaviors that may reduce or limit the risk/harm that can come from excessive alcohol use. Information on harm-reduction behaviors is presented (Table 4) as a way to determine areas where more education could occur and to determine if our students have used any means of protecting themselves from possible alcohol related harm.

Table 4. 2012 OSU NCHA Data - Harm Reduction Behaviors

More than 95 percent of OSU students who drink report using at least one harm reduction strategy to stay safer if they choose to drink.