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Prevalence of alcohol use disorders and associated factors: a population-based study using AUDIT in southern Brazil
Raúl A Mendoza-Sassi1, Jorge U Béria
1Department of Internal Medicine, Fundação Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Brazil. rams@iname.com
Aims:
To assess the prevalence of potential alcohol use disorders and associated factors using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT).
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Setting:
A town in southern Brazil.
Participants:
A representative sample of 1260 people aged 15 and over.
Measurements:
Demographic, socioeconomic, smoking habit and mental health data were collected. Logistic regression was used in the multivariate analysis, and odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.
Findings:
Overall prevalence of alcohol use disorder was 7.9%, with 14.5% prevalence among men and 2.4% among women. The risk of alcohol misuse increased across social class (P linear trend = 0.03) and compared with the highest classes (A and B), groups C through E had ORs of 1.48, 1.51 and 2.36, respectively. Males had an OR of 6.89 (CI 3.61-13.16) compared with women. A linear trend was found (P = 0.001) between smoking categories, and smokers (OR 3.27; CI 1.91-5.58) and ex-smokers (OR 1.30; CI 0.56-2.98) were at higher risk than non-smokers. Those with minor psychiatric disorders had a 2.48 OR (CI 1.35-4.56) of presenting a positive test.
Conclusions:
The AUDIT detected a high prevalence of potential alcohol use disorders in the population sampled. Those identified are potential targets for preventive measures implemented through health policies.