OBJECTIVES: This study explored the relationship between alcohol consumption and exposure to traumatic events in male firefighters. METHODS: Data was collected from a sample of 584 firefighters at urban fire stations. We surveyed the firefighters using self-administered questionnaires including sociodemographic and job-related characteristics such as the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Life Event Checklist (LEC), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Korean Occupational Stress Scale-Short Form (KOSS-SF), Impacted Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), Stait Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). RESULTS: There were significant differences in smoking, traumatic events (LEC), post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (IES-R), and anxiety (STAI-T) between the two drinking groups (p<0.05). In multivariate logistic regression, smoking (OR=2.084, 95% CI=1.172-3.705), LEC (OR=1.163, 95% CI=1.010-1.339) and IES-R (OR=1.024, 95% CI=1.002-1.046) were significant predictors for AUDIT (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These results indicate that an appropriate intervention about the exposure to traumatic events should play a useful role in preventing firefighter alcohol problems.
Alcohol Drinking ; Anxiety ; Checklist ; Depression ; Drinking ; Firefighters ; Fires ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the effects of smoking on alcohol cravings in alcoholdependent individuals. METHODS: Study participants were 123 male smokers, 18 to 65 years of age, diagnosed with alcohol dependence. The study questionnaire consisted of demographic characteristics, alcohol drinking habits, smoking habits, the Korean Obsessive-Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS), the 12-item Tobacco Craving Questionnaire (12-item TCQ), and the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). We divided the subjects into high-OCDS score and low-OCDS score groups. RESULTS: The high-OCDS group had a higher alcohol drinking frequency and greater average amount of alcohol consumed than did the low-OCDS group. Also, the high-OCDS group smoked a higher average number of cigarettes per day and had higher 12-item TCQ scores and FTND scores. Logistic regression analysis showed scores of the 12-item TCQ and the FTND were the most significant variables for predicting alcohol cravings. CONCLUSION: This study shows that alcohol cravings are significantly related to cigarette cravings and to severity of nicotine dependence.
Alcohol Drinking ; Alcoholism ; Drinking ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Nicotine ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Tobacco ; Tobacco Products ; Tobacco Use Disorder

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical outcomes of GnRH antagonist (cetrorelix(R)) with those of conventional GnRH agonist for down-regulation in assisted reproductive cycle. Materials and Method: Ninety-nine women undergoing IVF or ICSI were treated with either GnRH antagonist (cetrorelix(R)) or GnRH agonist (Lucrin(R)) for pituitary down regulation. The patient characteristics, basal hormone profile and IVF outcome were compared. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in age and duration of infertility between two groups. E2 (pg/mL)/LH (mIU/mL)/FSH (mIU/ mL) on the 3 day of menstrual period as a baseline were also not significantly different between two groups. The number of hMG amples administered (30.5+/-11.2 versus 47.6+/-16.4 ample/cycle) and the duration of stimulation (11.0+/-1.7 versus 14.1+/-2.2 days) were significantly lower in the cetrorelix(R) group. There were no significant differences in the fertilization and pregnancy rates, the number of embryo transferred, the number of mature oocyte and the number of embryo obtained between two groups. CONCLUSION: The cycles using an antagonist protocol shows a shorter duration of stimulation with comparable outcomes with few injections than those with an agonist protocol. GnRH antagonist can be effectively used as GnRH agonist for pituitary down regulation in IVF-ET cycles.
Down-Regulation ; Embryonic Structures ; Female ; Fertilization ; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone* ; Humans ; Infertility ; Oocytes ; Pregnancy Rate ; Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic