Alcohol-related disorders and associated factors in a rural area in Brazil

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To describe the prevalence of alcohol-related disorders and associated factors in an exclusively rural population.METHODS This is a cross-sectional, population-based study of a rural research consortium, conducted in a medium-sized city in Southern Brazil, with adults living in a rural area, using the AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test). The analysis included the prevalence of alcohol-related disorders and associated factors, such as the sociodemographic, family, and health factors; it was carried out by Poisson regression, in a hierarchical analysis model, with a 95% confidence interval.RESULTS The final sample amounted to 1,519 subjects. The prevalence of alcohol-related disorders (AUDIT ≥ 8) was 8.4% (95%CI 7.0–9.8). Risk factors for alcohol-related disorders were being male (PR = 8.2, 95%CI 4.82–14.16), age group between 18 and 29 years (PR = 3.29, 95%CI 1.80–6.0), and smoking (PR = 1.88, 95%CI 1.03–3.43). The practice of religion (PR = 0.38, 95%CI 0.25–0.58) and education level between nine and 11 years (PR = 0.33, 95%CI 0.16–0.69) were protective factors with statistical significance. Marital status and social status were not associated with the outcome studied.CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of alcohol-related disorders in the rural population is high, but, on average, it is lower than that found in urban populations. Risk and protective factors were similar to those found in previous studies. Men, younger persons, and smokers are at higher risk for alcohol-related disorders. On the other hand, practicing a religion and having a higher education level were protective factors.

Fontes de acesso e utilização de medicamentos na zona rural de Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, em 2016: estudo transversal de base populacional

“…Finally, there is yet another hypothesis, namely that of prevalence of medication use in rural areas being lower in rural areas compared to urban areas as a natural result of healthier lifestyles in the countryside in relation to lifestyles in cities. 23,24 Higher prevalence of medication use by women, older people, those with poorer self-perceived health and those with a greater number of chronic diseases corroborates the literature. [2][3][4] Having found lower prevalence of medication use among those who did not have a partner raises the hypothesis of partners providing more attention and care, thus leading to someone with a partner using health services more and thus increasing the chances of diagnosis of health problems requiring medication.…”

Análise do acesso à rede de atenção psicossocial para usuários de álcool e outras drogas da zona rural

“…Consideram-se drogas as substâncias capazes de causar alterações de comportamento e/ou percepção, como os medicamentos, cocaína, álcool, tabaco, entre outros, independente do status legal (3)(4) . Em contextos rurais, os estudos chamam a atenção para o uso abusivo de álcool, apontado como substância não só de maior prevalência de consumo e dependência no Brasil, mas também de maior impacto nos indicadores de saúde pública (5)(6) .…”

Abuse of alcohol among farmers: Prevalence and associated factors

“…Although there are publications of studies on alcohol consumption and alcohol- related problems in rural regions of several countries, such as the United States [ 15 ], Poland [ 16 ], Kenya [ 17 ], India [ 18 ] and China [ 19 ], the literary collection on this topic, in this population cut-off, in Brazil, is still insufficient. Therefore, more national studies need to be developed with rural populations [ 20 ], deepening the knowledge of their particularities and needs, aiming at contributing to the adoption of public health measures, from the perspective of prevention, health promotion and psychosocial rehabilitation.…”