Effects of backpacking holidays in Australia on alcohol, tobacco and drug use of UK residents

BMC Public Health

Table 1 General sample characteristics and comparison between sexes of UK backpackers in Australia

	All		Male		Female
Survey area	n	%	n	%	n	%	X ²	P
Cairns	259	25.7	156	23.4	103	30.3
Sydney	749	74.3	511	76.6	237	69.7	5.62	<0.05
Age
18 to 20	198	19.6	138	20.7	60	17.6
21 to 24	457	45.3	283	42.4	174	51.2
25 to 35	353	35.0	246	36.9	106	31.2	6.96	<0.05
Abroad with partner/spouse	205	20.7	122	18.6	83	24.9	5.44	<0.05
Australia first destination from UK	396	39.3	268	40.2	128	37.6	0.61	0.436
Australia final destination before UK	368	36.7	247	37.3	121	35.8	0.20	0.651
Australia only destination¹	232	23.0	155	23.2	77	22.6	0.04	0.833
Stay to date (weeks)
2 to 4	339	33.6	215	32.2	124	36.5
>4 to 12	316	31.3	210	31.5	105	30.9
>12	353	35.0	242	36.3	111	32.6	2.08	0.354
Stay remaining (weeks)
2 to 4	278	28.3	155	23.9	123	36.9
>4 to 12	273	27.8	182	28.1	91	27.3
>12	431	43.9	311	48.0	119	35.7	20.74	<0.001
Total stay (weeks)
2 to 12	302	30.8	178	27.5	124	37.2
>12 to 40	359	36.6	239	36.9	120	36.0
>40	321	32.7	231	35.6	89	26.7	12.23	<0.005
Visited hospital/doctor in Australia	202	20.3	122	18.5	80	23.8	3.86	<0.05
Nights clubbing per week
None	26	2.7	15	2.4	11	3.5
1	161	17.0	89	14.1	72	22.7
2 to 4	635	67.1	435	69.2	199	62.8
5 or more	125	13.2	90	14.3	35	11.0	12.97	<0.01

¹Travelling from the UK to Australia and back without holiday periods in other countries on either route

ISSN: 1471-2458