Using public-use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 3,733) and the life-span developmental perspective, the current study sought to determine whether global reports of alcohol use, binge drinking, and drunkenness are best represented as indicators of a latent alcohol consumption construct during adolescence, the transition to adulthood, and young adulthood. We a...

BACKGROUND Studies on alcohol consumption in rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa are scarce. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and determinants of alcohol consumption in rural western Kenya. The study was conducted as a preliminary stage of a community-based intervention to reduce hazardous alcohol consumption. METHODS A cross-sectional survey of 478 participants aged 18-65 years res...

BACKGROUND Alcohol can be harmful to the development of the foetus. In most developed countries, pregnant women are recommended to abstain from alcohol, however in developing countries, women are less likely to receive these recommendations. With respect to pregnant women in Northern Tanzania, this study aims to 1) describe time trends in level of alcohol consumption, 2) assess socio-demographi...

BACKGROUND Antenatal care in Sweden involves a visit in pregnancy week 6-7 for counseling about lifestyle issues, including alcohol. The aim of this study was to investigate alcohol consumption among partners of pregnant women, their motives for changing drinking patterns when becoming a parent and their perceptions of the midwife's counseling about alcohol. METHOD The study was conducted at ...

BACKGROUND Alcohol use has a detrimental impact on the HIV epidemic, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. HIV counseling and testing (HCT) may provide a contact opportunity to intervene with hazardous alcohol use; however, little is known about how alcohol consumption changes following HCT. METHODS We utilized data from 2056 participants of a randomized controlled trial comparing two methods of ...

BACKGROUND Although heavy alcohol consumption is associated with hypertension, the impact of lighter consumption on blood pressure (BP) is controversial. The protective effect of light alcohol consumption on cardiovascular disease described in previous studies could be, in part, mediated by effects of alcohol on BP. However, only a few studies investigating the association between alcohol and B...

STUDY OBJECTIVE This paper describes and attempts to explain the association between occupational level of the father and high alcohol consumption among a cohort of New Zealand adolescents from age 11 to 21. DESIGN Data were obtained from the longitudinal Dunedin multidisciplinary health and development study. At each measurement wave, those who then belonged to the quartile that reported the...

Background: Suicide is one of the leading external causes of death in many countries and its rates have increased globally over the last decades. The level of alcohol consumption and the suicide rates in the former Soviet republic Belarus range among the highest in the world. Aim: To estimate the aggregate level effect of alcohol on suicide rates in Belarus. Method: Trends in alcohol consumptio...

BACKGROUND Alcohol consumption is one of the most important factors for disease and disability in Europe. In clinical trials, nalmefene has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of heavy-drinking days (HDDs) per month and total alcohol consumption (TAC) among alcohol-dependent patients versus placebo. METHODS A microsimulation model was developed to estimate alcohol-attributable d...

This paper examines the effects of alcohol prohibition on the consumption of alcohol and other addictive goods. Using a series of household expenditure surveys for India, it finds that alcohol prohibition had differential effects on alcohol consumption by alcohol type and sector. In particular prohibition reduced consumption of arrack, IMFL, and beer in both urban and rural sectors, although it...