Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109682

Zong-Fu Mao, Department of Social Medicine, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, 115 Donghu RD., Wuhan, 430071, China, Bei Wu, Center on Aging, West Virginia University, P. O. Box 9127, Morgantown, WV 26506, 304-293-5206, bwu@hsc.wvu.edu, Yu-Wen Yue, Department of Community Medicine, West Virginia University, 213 Overdale Str. #1, Morgantown, WV 26501, and Guo-Shan Hu, Health Department of Hubei Province, 38 Donghu RD., Wuhan, 430071, China.

Socioeconomic status (SES) is strongly related to health behaviors; however, their associations have been scarcely examined, especially in China. Heavy alcohol use is a common risk behavior. Our study used multiple indicators of socioeconomic status (education, occupational status, income, and wealth) to investigate each one's impact on alcohol use. The data were derived from a large household health interview survey conducted in 2003, which cover both urban and rural populations in Hubei, China. The study enrolled 16,804 individuals aged 15 to 101. Logistic regression was used to examine the impact of SES on alcohol use while controlling for respondents' demographic characteristics. The study found that for both rural and urban residents, the higher the income, the more likely the respondent were to be a heavy drinker. However, education attainment had the opposite impact. Individuals with higher levels of education would be less likely to drink heavily. Wealth, as measured by the size of the respondent's house, had a negative association with alcohol use for rural respondents, but no significant relationship was found for urban residents. The study suggests that SES has a complicated association with alcohol use. Instead of using a single indicator of SES to investigate health behaviors, a comprehensive measure of SES should be used to provide a better understanding of the relationships of SES and health behaviors in countries like China where many social and economic changes are occurring.

Key words: socioeconomic status, alcohol use, urban and rural

Learning Objectives:

• 1.To learn more about the factors related to alcohol use
• 2.To provide a better understanding of the relationship between socioeconomic status and alcohol use

Keywords: Alcohol Use,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.