Prevalence and associated factors with alcohol use disorders among adults: a population-based study in southern Brazil

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to describe the prevalence of alcohol use disorders in an adult population from Brazil and its association with demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral variables and health conditions. METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional survey was conducted with adults (20 to 59 years) of a medium-sized city in Southern Brazil with a random sample of 1,720 individuals. Cluster sampling was done in two stages: census tract first and household second. Alcohol use disorders were measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and associations were tested with selected variables by Poisson Regression. Results of multivariate analysis were expressed as prevalence ratios. RESULTS: The prevalence of alcohol use disorders in the population was 18.4% (95% CI: 16.6% - 20.3%), higher among men (29.9%) than in women (9.3%). The prevalence of abstinence was 30.6%; 6.8% of respondents had already caused problems to themselves or to others after drinking; and 10.3% reported that a relative, friend or doctor had already shown concern on their drinking. After multivariate analysis, an association with alcohol use disorders remained for: being male, age 20 to 29 years, being single, declaring to be light-skinned blacks and being an ex-smoker or current smoker. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of alcohol use disorders identified is high compared with other similar studies, with differences according to being male, age 20 to 29, skin color and tobacco use. These issues must be considered in formulating public health policies aimed at reducing problems related to alcohol use.

Relationship between social capital indicators and lifestyle in Brazilian adults

“…Overall, the prevalence of the risk behaviors examined in this study was similar to that reported in other Brazilian studies, and the same was true for the differences found by demographic and health-related variables 42,43,44,45,46,47 .…”

Alcohol use problems in migraine and tension-type headache

“…Alcohol-related problems represent an immense economic loss to many communities around the world [11][12][13] . AUDIT was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to screen for excessive drinking 14,15 .…”

“…AUDIT was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to screen for excessive drinking 14,15 . AUDIT has been validated in many countries and has showed good levels of sensitivity and specificity for alcohol use disorders [12][13][14][15] . Our study suggests that migraine reduces harmful alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems in comparison with tension type headache.…”

“…The assessment of alcohol use problems was carried out with the Portuguese validated version of the AUDIT and a score between 0 (minimum) and 40 (maximum) was obtained [12][13][14][15] . The test contains 10 questions assessing recent use of alcohol, dependency, and alcohol related problems.…”

“…The AUDIT scores were compared in the two groups (migraine and tension type headache). The AUDIT scores were defined into two groups: a) below 8 -not diagnosable alcohol problem, b) 8 or above: alcohol use disorder [12][13][14][15] . The proportions of patients with and without alcohol use pro blem were compared in the two groups.…”