Alcohol consumption and characterization of hazardous drinkers in Galicia

Detailed knowledge of the epidemiology of alcohol consumption at the population level is essential to the design of effective public health programs. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of daily, sporadic, occasional, binge and hazardous alcohol consumption among the Galician population aged 16 years and over, and to characterize hazardous drinkers, taking into account the gender perspective. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017 among people aged over 15 years residing in Galicia in the framework of the Risk Behavior Information System (SICRI). In 2017, 7,841 adults were interviewed by stratified random sampling. Questions related to alcohol consumption in the last month were included and the prevalence of hazardous consumption was estimated using the AUDIT test. A multivariate logistic regression model was fitted to characterize hazardous drinkers. A total of 18.8% of the Galician population consumed alcohol daily and 3.4% had hazardous consumption. The prevalence of daily, occasional, sporadic, binge and hazardous drinking was higher among men and varied by age. The prevalence of daily-occasional and sporadic drinking was highest at middle age (45-64 years) and binge and hazardous drinking among those aged 16 to 24 years. The characteristics associated with hazardous drinking varied by gender, and are identified by common characteristics to both genders such as age or being a tobacco or cannabis smoker, and differential characteristics such as educational level. Typologies of consumption changed according to age and gender. Surveillance systems should regularly monitor alcohol consumption in order to adapt prevention measures to changes in drinking patterns.