Hazardous, Harmful and Dependent Alcohol Users According to Audit in an Urban Slum, Meerut

Background: Alcohol consumption is the world’s third largest risk factor for disease and disability; in middle-income countries, it is the greatest risk. Approximately 4.5% of the global burden of disease and injury is attributable to alcohol. Alcohol is a causal factor in 60 types of diseases and injuries and a component cause in 200 others. Alcohol is attributed to nearly 3.2% of all deaths and results in a loss of 4% of total DALYs (58 million). Aims & Objective: To assess the pattern of alcohol use among the males aged >15 years in the urban slum, Multan Nagar in Meerut. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the catchment area of UHTC (Urban Health and training Centre) among 324 males aged > 15 years. Data was collected by home visit using WHO questionnaire (AUDIT: Alcohol use disorder identification test) along with other questions related to the type, initiation and reason behind alcohol use. Chi square test followed by logistic regression was applied to know the association of alcohol use with the socio-demographic determinants. Results: According to the AUDIT score, Hazardous, Dependent and harmful drinkers were 7.7%, 9.2% and 2.4% respectively. Most common age of onset was 20-30 years (46.9%) among the drinkers with most common reason being peer pressure (13.6%). Logistic regression was applied and marital status, family history of alcohol use and caste retained their statistical significance (p-value< 0.05, 95% confidence interval). Conclusion: It can be concluded that early age of onset and peer pressure are the alarming challenges for the eradication of this social evil. KEY-WORDS: Alcohol Use; Hazardous; Harmful; Dependent Users; WHO; Audit