Women’s alcohol consumption in a Primary Health Care service

Abstract

Objective: To identify alcohol consumption patterns in people cared by a Primary Health Care service and verify the association between the patterns and the variables of the sample. Method: Our observational study used both the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test instrument and a questionnaire with socio-demographic, clinical, and behavioral questions for data collection. We carried out the descriptive and univariate analysis with Kendall and Kruskal-Wallis correlation tests. We introduced variables with p ≤ 0.2 values in the multiple logistic regression – Mann-Whitney test. Results: The sample of the study was constituted by 561 women. The analysis results indicated relevant influence for higher patterns of consumption: not having a partner, not having a religion, smoking and drug habits, and having arterial hypertension. Besides that, within each additional year in women’s age, the alcohol consumption decreases. Conclusion: We endorsed data that female alcohol consumption is presenting a tendency to increase especially among younger women, this information is essential for the promotion of Primary Health Care.

Sociodemographic inequalities on women's behavioral and health outcomes: a population-based study

“…Alcohol and tobacco consumption among women used to occur in small frequencies and volumes, when compared to men. However, changes in the social role of women over time show that there has been an adoption of habits previously considered masculine 44 and this change is more evident among younger women 45 . A study carried out in primary care, with women, suggests that higher alcohol consumption is associated with a greater load of emotional, stress such as prejudice, discrimination, and violence, experienced due to sexual orientation or the accumulation of functions among those who are single mothers 45 .…”

“…However, changes in the social role of women over time show that there has been an adoption of habits previously considered masculine 44 and this change is more evident among younger women 45 . A study carried out in primary care, with women, suggests that higher alcohol consumption is associated with a greater load of emotional, stress such as prejudice, discrimination, and violence, experienced due to sexual orientation or the accumulation of functions among those who are single mothers 45 . However, a study on protective behavior strategies showed that women have a healthier style and consumption of alcohol than men 46 .…”