Consumption of alcoholic beverages, tobacco and illicit drugs among university freshmen in the nursing field

Objective: Describe the consumption of alcoholic beverages, tobacco and illicit drugs among university freshmen in the nursing field. Method: Descriptive, quantitative study, with 119 entering a public university, in Salvador-Ba. AUDIT and instruments were used for sociodemographic characterization, tobacco consumption and illicit drugs. Data analyzed by descriptive statistics. Results: The average age was 20 years (SD 4). Women, social class C, black race / color and single women predominated. No student smoked, but 17.6% were passive smokers and one used illicit drugs. Fifty-five percent used alcohol and of these 33.2% consumed more than five drinks on one occasion. AUDIT's Zone I was 89.9%, II 8.4% and III 1.7%. Conclusion: With the predominance of Zone I, monitoring of drug use during training is suggested, and prevention and control actions should be instituted collectively and individually. It highlights the importance of nursing and health care aimed at protecting university students from drug abuse.