Risk of harm from alcohol use and heavy alcohol consumption: Its association with other NCD risk factors in Thailand

Abstract

While there is an abundance of literature examining the relation between quantity of alcohol consumption and risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCD), there is less evidence on whether the risk of harm from alcohol use would have a similar relationship with NCD risk factors. The study aims to determine the association between level of harm from alcohol use and NCD risk factors. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among health care workers in Thailand in 2013. The Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) was used to assessed risk of harm from alcohol use. The results suggest that higher risk of harm from alcohol use was associated with two of the eight NCD risk factors among women (higher blood pressure and higher triglyceride level) and five of the eight NCD risk factors among men (smoking, physical inactivity, higher blood pressure, higher blood glucose and higher triglyceride level). For men, assessing risk of harm could be incorporated as part of NCD programs as practitioners do not have to worry about the accuracy of the alcohol quantification and conversion to standard drinks. However, among women, quantifying volume may still be needed.

Lowered blood pressure targets identify new, uncontrolled hypertensive cases: patient characteristics and implications for services in Thailand

“…The strategies include drinking eight glasses of water every day which has been shown to will increase body metabolism up to 24-30% [17], dietary carbohydrate restriction (such as rice, starch and sugar) [18][19][20][21], aerobic exercise for 30 min every day, 4 times a week (such as jogging, cycling robe jumping and aerobic dance) [22] and high fiber dietary consumption [23]. There was an evidence that harmful alcohol consumption is also associated with increase BMI [24]. Increased energy intake with alcohol use can promote an excess of energy and ultimately weight gain [25].…”

Functional-Belief-Based Alcohol Use Questionnaire (FBAQ) as a Pre-Screening Tool for High-Risk Drinking Behaviors among Young Adults: A Northern Thai Cross-Sectional Survey Analysis

“…The primary outcome of interest was high-risk drinking behavior, which was determined from the 12-month AUDIT score [39]. According to previous literature, each participant can be categorized into four risk levels based on the total 12-month AUDIT score as follows: low-risk drinking (0-7), hazardous drinking (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15), dangerous or harmful drinking (16)(17)(18)(19), and almost certainly alcohol dependence (20 or more) [40,41]. In this study, we defined high-risk drinking behavior as participants who had a 12-month AUDIT score ≥8, which incorporates hazardous and harmful alcohol use and alcohol dependence.…”

“…Harmful alcohol consumption and binge-drinking behavior among young adults, especially college students, results in various undesirable consequences, such as poor educational or work performance, detrimental effect on health and neurocognition, other substance use and drug overdoses, and death [10][11][12][13]. It is also widely recognized that drinking not only exposes harm to the drinkers but also to their surrounding social environments, which was due to drunk driving, gambling, sexual abuse, injuries, and domestic violence [14,15].…”

The interactive association between sodium intake, alcohol consumption and hypertension among elderly in northern China: a cross-sectional study

“…Both factors play an important role in the development of hypertension. Most evidence supports a positive association between sodium intake and blood pressure [ 17 , 18 ], and the literatures on excessive alcohol consumption’s harmful effects on blood pressure level are also mostly consistent [ 19 , 20 ]. However, little is known about the interactive effect of excessive sodium intake and drinking on hypertension in older adults.…”