Alcohol use patterns among Brazilian adults

Abstract

Objective: To describe patterns of alcohol consumption in the adult Brazilian population. Method: Multicluster random sample of 2,346 subjects 18 years of age or older, selected nationwide. Interviews were conducted in respondents' homes between November 2005 and April 2006. Results: About 48% of the sample had not drunk alcoholic beverages in the past year, with variations by gender, age, marital status, education, income and region of the country. Among drinkers, 29% reported drinking 5 or more drinks per occasion (men, 38%). Sociodemographic variables are associated with the frequency and amount of drinking, alcohol problems, and alcohol abuse and dependence. Among the whole sample (including drinkers and non drinkers), 28% reported binge drinking, 25% reported at least one kind of alcohol related problem, 3% were alcohol abusers and another 9% were alcohol dependent. Discussion: Abstinence is high in the Brazilian population. However, elevated proportions of those who drink consume alcohol in a high risk pattern (binge-drinking), report a high level of alcohol problems, alcohol abuse and dependence. National public policies must consider these factors, as well as the regional Brazilian differences. Descriptors

Differences in drinking patterns between men and women in Brazil

“…The Brazilian National Alcohol Survey (BNAS) 18 Sampling involved 3 stages: (1) selection of 143 municipalities using systematic probability proportional to size methods (PPS), after the stratification of the country into 25 strata defined by the 5 Brazilian Regions and 5 groups of the largest city within each region; (2) selection of 2 census sectors for each county, with the exception of the largest selected counties, totalling 325 census sectors, also using PPS; (3) a simple random sampling of households, selected from a list made in each census sector, followed by the selection of a household member to be interviewed using the "closest future birthday" technique.…”

“…Most research aimed at investigating differences between men and women regarding alcohol use has targeted less representative samples, such as students 14 18,19 with a representative sample of the nationwide population. It found that 58% of Brazilians had drunk at least once in the past year, among them, 65% were men and 41% women.…”

Necessidade de intervenção breve por uso de álcool, tabaco e outras drogas entre usuários da atenção primária à saúde

“…10 . Nosso estudo reporta frequência menor (39,5%), provavelmente, por conta de sua amostra não probabilística ser composta majoritariamente por mulheres (78,1%), cujo há-bito de beber, no Brasil, é de 41%, frequência menor que a observada entre os homens (65%) 12 .…”

Addiction Research Centres and the Nurturing of Creativity. National Institute on Alcohol and Drugs Policies, Brazil

“…Laranjeira et al [7] demonstrated that 25% of the Brazilian population drinks enough alcohol to endanger their health (binge drinking). According to Zaleski et al, alcohol also plays an important role in violence between intimate partners and couples in Brazil: 38.1% of the cases of violence perpetrated by men and 9.2% of the cases perpetrated by women [8].…”