Predicting Tobacco and Alcohol Consumption Based on Physical Activity Level and Demographic Characteristics in Romanian Students

Abstract

Background: This study aims to assess the relationships between alcohol and tobacco consumption, physical activity (PA) and demographic characteristics in Romanian students. Methods: There were 253 participants in this study (112 male and 141 female, age 19.2 ± 0.70 yrs; BMI 22.4 ± 2.2 kg/m2), students of Transilvania University of Brasov. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF), Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) were employed for the data collection. Results: Results showed that moderate consumption of tobacco and harmful consumption of alcohol had high prevalence among age, gender, year of study and PA level categories. Although the correlation coefficient showed no significant relationship between tobacco and alcohol use, it was shown that a negative correlation between tobacco and PA level existed. Further, age, year of study and PA level had a negative significant relationship with alcohol use among students. In the end, the tobacco and alcohol consumption prediction model showed heterogeneous coefficients. Conclusion: Full models of tobacco and alcohol use were differently predicted by variables, so PAL (Physical Activity Level) could predict tobacco consumption but not alcohol.