Is medicine use in adolescence risk behavior?
Andersen A; Holstein BE; Hansen EH Department of Social Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Institute of Public Health, Copenhagen, Denmark. anette.andersen@socmed.ku.dk PURPOSE: To examine the association between smoking, drunkenness, and medicine use for headache, stomachache, difficulties in getting to sleep, and nervousness in a representative sample of 11- to 15-year-old school-aged children. METHODS: Design: Cross-sectional school-based survey. Setting: A random sample of schools in Denmark in 2002. Participants: All students in the fifth, seventh and ninth grades in these schools, n = 4824. Measurements: Self-reported medicine use for headache, stomachache, difficulties in getting to sleep, and nervousness within the last month; self-reported experience of drunkenness; self-reported smoking. RESULTS: There was a strong and graded association between drunkenness and medicine use, even in models adjusted for the symptom for which the medicine was taken. There was a similar associa
