 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Raul Caetano, MD, PhD, School of Public Health, University of Texas Houston Health Science Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, V8.1112, Dallas, TX 75390-9128, 214-648-1080, Raul.Caetano@UTSouthwestern.edu
This presentation describes alcohol consumption and patterns of drinking in a global perspective. Data from industrialized countries show a slight overall decrease in alcohol consumption in recent years, as well as converging trends in traditional high consumption and low consumption countries. Of particular concern, however, is the increasing consumption in many of the emerging economies, given that the drinking appears to be concentrated in a smaller fraction of the population in these countries. While levels of consumption vary greatly from one part of the world to another, it appears that much of this variation is attributable to differences in the proportions of adults who abstain from drinking altogether. It is not only the level of total consumption that is relevant to the health and social problems from drinking; the drinking pattern is also of considerable importance. Thus, the same consumption level may be associated with quite different problem levels in different societies. In this presentation we give new estimates of hazardous drinking for global regions, which provide an indication of the relative prominence of intoxication occasions in the drinking of each world region. We also present regional estimates of alcohol dependence rates, a second mediator between levels of consumption and the occurrence of social and health problems. It is concluded that the amount of alcohol consumed and the risks associated with patterns of drinking vary enormously -- not only among world regions and countries, but also over time and between different population groups. These variations affect rates of alcohol-related problems, and have implications for the choice of alcohol policy measures.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Alcohol, Epidemiology
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.