217939 Descriptive Epidemiology of Brand-Specific Alcohol Use Among Underage Youths

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 : 3:24 PM - 3:42 PM

Michael Siegel, MD, MPH , Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA
William DeJong, PhD , Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA
Erin K. Fortunato, MPH , Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA
Andrea Johnson , Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA
Joanna DiLoreto , Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA
Craig Ross , Virtual Media Resources, Natick, MA
Timothy Heeren, PhD , Biostatistics Department, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA
Timothy S. Naimi, MD, MPH , Section of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
Introduction: Although the Institute of Medicine has called for national surveys to measure the brands of alcohol that youths consume, to date there has been no research reporting national data on brand-specific alcohol consumption among youths. Methods: We piloted tested a survey of youth alcohol brand use among a sample of 100 youths ages 16-20 recruited from an existing youth internet panel. The survey was conducted using the web-enabled KnowledgePanel®, a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. population. Initially, participants are chosen scientifically by a random selection of telephone numbers and residential addresses. Persons in selected households are then invited by telephone or by mail to participate in the panel. Using its established internet panel, Knowledge Networks recruited 100 youths and young adults, ages 16-20, via email to participate in the internet-based survey, which measured the use of 368 different brands of alcoholic beverages. Results: This presentation will summarize the descriptive epidemiology of brand-specific alcohol use among underage youths based on the results of what we believe is the first national survey of youth alcohol brand preference. We will present the prevalence of alcoholic beverage use by brand and the market share by volume of each type and brand of alcoholic beverage. Conclusion: It is feasible to measure brand-specific alcohol consumption among underage youths and this can be done using a pre-recruited youth internet panel. National agencies and alcohol researchers should begin to measure alcohol brand use in future studies.

Learning Areas:
Epidemiology
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Explain the reasons why ascertainment of alcohol brand use among underage youths would significantly advance alcohol research and prevention policy. Describe the methodologic strengths and limitations of using a pre-recruited internet panel to measure alcohol consumption among youths. Identify the alcoholic beverage brands that are most popular among youths and discuss the potential research, practice and policy implications of knowing these brands.

Keywords: Alcohol Use, Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present because I have conducted extensive research on brand-specific use of cigarettes and alcohol among youth and have examined the implications of measuring brand market shares for research, practice, and policy in the tobacco and alcohol areas.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.