Alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking habits among roofers in South Florida

Objectives: To investigate alcohol consumption habits in South Florida roofers. Introduction: Roofers have increased risks of many cancers. While roofers are exposed to many carcinogens during their work, they also exhibit some behavioral risk factors. Methods: In this pilot study, roofers were recruited with informed consent under IRB-approved protocols. Information on personal characteristics and life-style factors was collected via questionnaires. Descriptive statistical analyses were done using Crosstabs on SPSS-16. Results: Of the 19 roofers interviewed, 6 were Hispanics and 13 were African-Americans with an average age of 38.4. Overall, seven of the roofers (36.9%) reported consuming alcohol 3 or more days of the week. Five of the roofers reported consuming more than 4 drinks in one sitting; four of these were heavy drinkers (12-24 drinks/ sitting) who mostly consumed alcoholic drinks on at least 3 days of the week. Furthermore, six roofers reported having any alcoholic drinks within the last 24 h with three of them having 8 or more drinks. Conclusions: While roofers have significant occupational exposures, they also exhibit many behavioral risk factors for cancer. Results from this pilot study confirm that alcohol consumption is a frequent habits in this population with some workers exhibiting heavy drinking patterns on a regular basis and even before coming to the work. A major limitation of our study is the small sample size and there is a need for a future study with a larger sample size to assess behavioral risk factors in this occupational group.