Dr. Raul Caetano, dean of the UT
Southwestern School of Health Professions and lead author of the
paper available online and in the October issue of Alcoholism:
Clinical & Experimental...
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DALLAS - Sept. 29, 2010 - More people are drinking than 20 years
ago, according to a UT Southwestern Medical Center analysis of
national alcohol consumption patterns. Gathered from more than
85,000 respondents, the data suggests that a variety of factors,
including social, economic and ethnic influences and pressures, are
involved in the increase.
"The reasons for the uptick vary and may involve complex
sociodemographic changes in the population, but the findings are
clear: More people are consuming alcohol now than in the early
1990s," said Dr. Raul Caetano, dean of the UT Southwestern School
of Health Professions and lead author of the paper available online
and in the October issue of Alcoholism: Clinical &
Experimental Research.
The findings, Dr. Caetano said, suggest that continuous
monitoring of alcohol consumption levels is needed to understand
better the factors that affect consumption. Monitoring also would
help to detect as early as possible signs that rates of risky
drinking behaviors such as binge drinking or drinking to
intoxication may be increasing, said Dr. Caetano, who also is
regional dean of the UT School of Public Health's campus in
Dallas.
"Changes in the population due to aging, the influx of immigrant
groups, and a decline in mean income level because of economic
recessions can all impact trends in drinking and problems
associated with drinking," he said.
While more Caucasians, Hispanics and African-Americans reported
drinking between 1992 and 2002, only Caucasian women consumed more
drinks per person. The number of drinks that African-Americans and
Hispanics consumed leveled out over the 10-year time period.
In addition to an increase in the number of both male and female
drinkers within all three ethnic groups, the researchers also found
that among women, Caucasians were more likely than Hispanics or
African-Americans to consume five or more drinks a day or drink to
intoxication. An increase in drinking five or more drinks a day was
also detected among the heavier drinkers in the population,
suggesting a potential polarization of drinking practices.
Dr. Caetano said the team also identified several
sociodemographic predictors for whether someone was more likely to
drink to intoxication. They found that males younger than 60 who
did not have a college degree were likely to consume more drinks
per month. Being unemployed or unmarried also were identified as
risk factors for males getting intoxicated more than once a month,
he said.
For the study, the researchers culled data from the 1991-92
National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey and the 2001-02
National Epidemiologic Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions. The
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism conducted both
surveys, in which trained interviewers spoke with individuals 18 or
older in the respondents' homes. The interviewers used a
standardized questionnaire, so both surveys used the same overall
methodology. Each study included about 43,000 participants.
Both studies defined drinkers as individuals who had consumed at
least 12 drinks that contained at least 0.6 ounces of any kind of
alcohol within the past year. Those who hadn't imbibed that much
alcohol within the past year or who had never had any kind of
alcohol were classified as nondrinkers.
While many uncontrolled variables could skew the results, Dr.
Caetano said the overall trend is clear - the proportion of men and
women who drink alcohol has risen in all three ethnic groups.
"This suggests to us that a variety of public-health policies
such as restrictions on alcohol advertising, regulating
high-alcohol-content beverages, increasing taxes on alcohol, as
well as treatment and brief interventions may be needed to reduce
alcohol-related problems," he said.
Researchers from the University of North Texas Health Science
Center in Fort Worth also contributed to the study.
The study was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol
Abuse and Alcoholism.
SOURCE