Gender difference in drinking among the urban squatters of Nepal

Abstract

Tweetable abstract: Alcohol use is almost seven times more common among Men in Nepal's urban squatters than their counterparts.This is an open access article distributed on the terms of Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. This work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, or otherwise used provided that the original work is properly cited. Author e-mails are available at the end of the article. AbstractBackground: Globally, more men drink than women. However, we remain unknown about this phenomenon among the urban poor of Nepal. The current study investigated gender differences in drinking among the urban poor residing in urban squatter settlements of Nepal. Methodology:We approached 422 households of four squatter settlements of Kathmandu Valley, using modified Gender, Alcohol, and Culture: an International Study questionnaire. Following cross-sectional design, we executed study from November, 2013 to March, 2014. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was done in R version 3.1.2.Results: Odds of being current drinker (adjusted odds ratio: 5.86, 95% CI: 2.50-13.72) was higher in men than the women. Men were also more likely to be frequent drinkers (adjusted odds ratio: 6.61, 95% CI: 1.45-30.11) than their women counterparts. Men and women did not differ significantly in contexts of drinking and types of drinking. Men also carried higher possibility of being current drinker in various strata of socio-demographic characteristics. The respective crude odds ratio were accordingly: (18-24 Conclusion:The study revealed significant gender differences in drinking. Gender sensitive and specific alcohol interventions should be planned and implemented covering urban squatter settlements.

Association between Alcohol Consumption and Smoking Habit in the General Population of Rural Nepalese Community

“…Similar results were found in the study carried out by Thapa P and Mishra SR in Nepal. 35 These findings from Nepal are also supporting those above mentioned Biological and socio-cultural hypothesis regarding gender and consumption of alcohol.…”

“…3 Tobacco smoking, and alcohol consumption behaviors are strongly influenced with genetic, and socio-cultural factors, so these practices are also regarded as social behaviour. 3,8,14 According to the survey carried out in Nepal by World Health Organization in 2007, 35.5% of men, and 15% of women smoked tobacco products, and 31.2% of men, and 4.6% of women used smokeless tobacco. 15 The overall smoking prevalence in Nepal ranges between 25% to 73% in adult men and between 0.8% to 60% in adult women across the different regions in the country.…”