Problem drinkng among patients attending primary healthcare units in Kampala, Ugana

Aims: To examine whether the socio-economic determinants of alcohol use found in high-income university student settings are also true of Uganda. Results:Multivariate logistic regression showed the following socio-economic determinants to be positively associated with alcohol consumption: having attended boarding school (for males only); being Catholic; religion not playing a big role while growing up; head of household having had secondary education or higher (for females only); being a student of development studies, tropical forest conservation or computer science (the latter two for males only). Being Muslim or, for males, being a non-Anglican Protestant were negatively related to alcohol use. Different patterns were found for heavy episodic drinking. Being a male Muslim or a male student of development studies was positively related to heavy episodic drinking; while among females, being of a non-classified faith, having had a head of the household with a secondary education, not being raised by both parents, or being a student of development studies or science were positively related to heavy episodic drinking. Conclusion:Alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking on a monthly basis among the students at MUST seem linked to a student's socio-economic background, with varying patterns for male and female students.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-economic determinants for alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking in a Ugandan student population

Stafström

Agardh

2013

“…We developed the CHLS survey using questions about specific conditions that were previously validated (Coyne, Thombs, & Mitchell, 2009;Doocy & Burnham, 2006;Kullgren, Alibusa, & Birabwa-Oketcho, 2009). We used methodology for basic epidemiologic surveys (The Epi Coverage Survey, 1991), favoring questions developed for resource-limited settings (Doocy & Lewy, 2009) and targeted to priorities set by the Liberian Ministry of Health (Basic Package of Health and Social Welfare Services, 2008).…”

Section: Methods Survey Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alcohol use and health care utilization in rural Liberia: Results of a community-based survey for basic public health indicators

Weil

Cameron

Soumerai

et al. 2014

Aim: To measure the association between alcohol use and health-seeking behavior in post-conflict Liberia.Design: Cross-sectional survey.Setting: A community in rural southeast Liberia, from January 11 to January 16, 2010Participants: 600 heads-of-household. Measures:Logistic regression models for estimation of associations between alcohol use and indicators of healthcare utilization. Frequent alcohol use was defined as drinking more than seven days out of the last two weeks.Findings: Frequent alcohol use was reported by 14.9% of participants. These respondents were less likely to attend clinic for chronic cough (Adjusted Odds Ratio, AOR 0.40, 95% CI 0.18-0.87), to have had an HIV test (AOR 0.39, 95% CI 0.19-0.77), and to have accessed prenatal care (AOR = 0.26, 95% CI 0.12-0.54). Approximately 25% of all respondents had no access to latrines, and half reported going to sleep hungry in the past week. Conclusions:Within households in post-conflict Liberia, there is an association between reduced health care utilization and frequent alcohol use self-reported by a head of household or primary caregiver.Alcoholism, along with mental illness, is among the most neglected global health problems in the developing world (Bass et al., 2010;Patel, Goel, & Desai, 2009). After a prolonged civil war, Liberia has the second lowest per capita GDP in the world (World Economic Outlook Database International Monetery Fund, 2011), and is recovering from widespread destruction of health infrastructure. Two decades of war, mass killings, forced conscription, and sexual violence have resulted in a population with a high risk of mental health disorders and alcohol abuse. In 2008, a survey of Liberian adults from across the country found that 40% met the symptom criteria for major depressive disorder and 44% for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and that ex-combatants were more likely to abuse alcohol than non-ex-combatants (Johnson et al., 2008). Another study of internally displaced persons in Liberia showed similarly high rates of alcohol and drug abuse (Ezard et al., 2011). Among forcibly displaced populations, risk factors for harmful alcohol use have been described, and include exposure to traumatic events, number of traumatic events endured, and resulting PTSD (de Jong et al., 2001;Weaver & Roberts, 2010). Alcohol is a known contributor to poor health outcomes, including delayed diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as tuberculosis and HIV (de Albuquerque Mde et al., 2007;Samet et al., 1998; van der Werf et al., 2006;Waitt & Squire, 2011). As a local non-governmental organization working in post-conflict Liberia, we posited that alcohol use was prevalent in our area, and might significantly impact health care utilization in our target population. The authors found that data specific to our catchment area on alcohol use and mental disorders, as well as basic health indicators, were not available. Our study aims to answer Martha Tubman Memorial Hospital (MTMH) is in the city of Zwedru in Grand Gedeh County, which ...

“…Based on a recent international comparison (Graham et al, 2011), the negative personal and social consequences among drinkers were estimated to be among the highest globally and call for effective interventions (WHO, 2010). Literature on alcohol treatment in Uganda is scarce (Kalema, Vindevogel, Baguma, Derluyn, & Vanderplasschen, 2015) but indicates that the majority of problem users fail to access professional treatment (Kullgren, Alibusa, & Birabwa-Oketcho, 2009;Ministry of Health [MoH], 2010). Although low treatment access and participation is recognized as a problem worldwide (Rehm, Shield, Rehm, Gmel, & Frick, 2012), some of the challenges may be specific to developing countries due to contextual differences like political and economic instability, the influence of the alcohol industry, and the role of religion in daily life (Al-Ansari, Thow, Day, & Conigrave, 2015;Kalema, Vanderplasschen, Vindevogel, & Derluyn, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hospital-based studies indicate higher prevalence rates among HIV/AIDS patients (47%) and persons entering primary health care centers (17%) (Hahn et al, 2014;Kullgren et al, 2009). According to the WHO (2010), treatment is an essential recommended intervention for reducing AUD, but it is relatively new and rare in Uganda and scantly documented (Ndyanabangi, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Treatment challenges for alcohol service users in Kampala, Uganda

Kalema

Vanderplasschen

Vindevogel

et al. 2017

Background and Aims: Enhancing treatment participation of persons with substance use disorders is a challenge worldwide. Obstacles keeping people from entering or continuing treatment are well documented in Western countries, but such knowledge is scarce in majority countries that face particular challenges when implementing alcohol policies. This study aimed at identifying factors challenging treatment participation in Uganda, a Sub-Saharan country with a considerable alcohol problem.