Risky behaviors after leaving nightclubs and association with blood alcohol concentration

Abstract

The excess consumption of alcoholic beverages in "baladas" (nightclubs and bars) and all the risky behavior provided by the alcoholic intoxication has been topic of international scientific interest in the last years and, at the same time, has earned space in the national media. Especially risky, the binge drinking has been identified as the most prevalent pattern of alcohol consumption and it is also associated to the nightclubs regular frequency. The international literature describes an association between more intensive alcohol intake and episodes of physical aggression, risky sexual behavior and sexual violence in leisure establishments and traffic accidents after leaving the place. Understanding the factors associated with this risky consumption in the nightclubs is essential to the development and implantation of preventive programs willing to reduce the risks associated to the binge drinking practice. In Brazil, this issue is still little (or barely) studied and, due to its implications in public health, it deserves great deepening. The analysis of what occurs in São Paulo's nightlife is the first step in the direction of preventive actions for the population exposed, based on data from local reality. This projects aims to analyze behaviors performed after leaving the nightclubs and its individual and collective consequences with focus on binge drinking pattern, measured by a breath analyzer. Portal survey technique (entrance and exit), followed by blood alcohol dosage by a breath analyzer, will be used to quantify the alcohol consumption before and after "balada" and allow further evaluation of the risky behaviors after leaving the nightclubs through an online questionnaire, that will be sent to the interviewee on the day following the interview in the nightclub. This project is part of the Jovem Pesquisador assistance from FAPESP (process nº 2011/51658-0) and aims to enable the med student from UNIFESP in collection, analysis and publicizing of scientific data. (AU)