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Drinking Measures (drinking + measure)
Selected AbstractsReady to drinks are associated with heavier drinking patterns among young femalesDRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, Issue 4 2008TAISIA HUCKLE Abstract Aim. To report patterns of use of ready to drinks (RTDs) and to assess if RTD consumers have heavier drinking patterns. RTDs were introduced in 1995. Method. Data from a general population sample of 7201 respondents aged 14,65 years, in New Zealand in 2004, were modelled. Results. Nineteen per cent of respondents consumed RTDs. Respondents aged 14,17 and 18,24 years and females were the largest consumers of RTDs. Compared to beer, wine or spirits, being an RTD consumer predicted (1) higher typical occasion quantities for respondents aged 14,17, 18,24 and 25+ years and (2) heavier drinking for those aged 14,17 and 18,24 years. When amounts of beverages consumed were modelled, quantity of RTDs predicted higher typical occasion quantities among females of all ages. Among males beer was more predictive. Similar results were found for the heavier drinking measure. For 14,17-year-old females, RTDs consumption predicted higher annual frequency, but for the other females and males the amount of wine or beer consumed predicted higher frequency. Conclusion. RTDs were most popular among young people aged 14,17 years, and females. RTDs predicted higher typical occasion alcohol consumption and heavier drinking better than any other beverage for females aged 14,17 years. For the other age and gender groups, other beverages predicted higher quantity and frequency consumption. [source] Effects of beverage alcohol price and tax levels on drinking: a meta-analysis of 1003 estimates from 112 studiesADDICTION, Issue 2 2009Alexander C. Wagenaar ABSTRACT Aims We conducted a systematic review of studies examining relationships between measures of beverage alcohol tax or price levels and alcohol sales or self-reported drinking. A total of 112 studies of alcohol tax or price effects were found, containing1003 estimates of the tax/price,consumption relationship. Design Studies included analyses of alternative outcome measures, varying subgroups of the population, several statistical models, and using different units of analysis. Multiple estimates were coded from each study, along with numerous study characteristics. Using reported estimates, standard errors, t -ratios, sample sizes and other statistics, we calculated the partial correlation for the relationship between alcohol price or tax and sales or drinking measures for each major model or subgroup reported within each study. Random-effects models were used to combine studies for inverse variance weighted overall estimates of the magnitude and significance of the relationship between alcohol tax/price and drinking. Findings Simple means of reported elasticities are ,0.46 for beer, ,0.69 for wine and ,0.80 for spirits. Meta-analytical results document the highly significant relationships (P < 0.001) between alcohol tax or price measures and indices of sales or consumption of alcohol (aggregate-level r = ,0.17 for beer, ,0.30 for wine, ,0.29 for spirits and ,0.44 for total alcohol). Price/tax also affects heavy drinking significantly (mean reported elasticity = ,0.28, individual-level r = ,0.01, P < 0.01), but the magnitude of effect is smaller than effects on overall drinking. Conclusions A large literature establishes that beverage alcohol prices and taxes are related inversely to drinking. Effects are large compared to other prevention policies and programs. Public policies that raise prices of alcohol are an effective means to reduce drinking. [source] Gender Differences in Alcohol Treatment: An Analysis of Outcome From the COMBINE StudyALCOHOLISM, Issue 10 2010Shelly F. Greenfield Background:, Relatively few studies have examined gender differences in the effectiveness of specific behavioral or pharmacologic treatment of alcohol dependence. The aim of this study is to assess whether there were gender differences in treatment outcomes for specific behavioral and medication treatments singly or in combination by conducting a secondary analysis of public access data from the national, multisite NIAAA-sponsored COMBINE study. Methods:, The COMBINE study investigated alcohol treatment among 8 groups of patients (378 women, 848 men) who received medical management (MM) with 16 weeks of placebo, naltrexone (100 mg/day), acamprosate (3 g/day), or their combination with or without a specialist-delivered combined behavioral intervention. We examined efficacy measures separately for men and women, followed by an overall analysis that included gender and its interaction with treatment condition in the analyses. These analyses were performed to confirm whether the findings reported in the parent trial were also relevant to women, and to more closely examine secondary outcome variables that were not analyzed previously for gender effects. Results:, Compared to men, women reported a later age of onset of alcohol dependence by approximately 3 years, were significantly less likely to have had previous alcohol treatment, and drank fewer drinks per drinking day. Otherwise, there were no baseline gender differences in drinking measures. Outcome analyses of 2 primary (percent days abstinent and time to first heavy drinking day) and 2 secondary (good clinical response and percent heavy drinking days) drinking measures yielded the same overall pattern in each gender as that observed in the parent COMBINE study report. That is, only the naltrexone by behavioral intervention interaction reached or approached significance in women as well as in men. There was a naltrexone main effect that was significant in both men and women in reduction in alcohol craving scores with naltrexone-treated subjects reporting lower craving than placebo-treated subjects. Conclusions:, This gender-focused analysis found that alcohol-dependent women responded to naltrexone with COMBINE's Medical Management, similar to the alcohol-dependent men, on a wide range of outcome measures. These results suggest that clinicians can feel comfortable prescribing naltrexone for alcohol dependence in both men and women. In this study, it is also notable that fewer women than men reported receiving any alcohol treatment prior to entry into the COMBINE study. Of note, women tend to go to primary health care more frequently than to specialty substance abuse programs for treatment, and so the benefit we confirm for women of the naltrexone and MM combination has practical implications for treating alcohol-dependent women. [source] Age-Related Changes in Drinking Patterns From Mid- to Older Age: Results From the Wisconsin Longitudinal StudyALCOHOLISM, Issue 7 2010Rachel C. Molander Background:, Drinking has generally been shown to decline with age in older adults. However, results vary depending on the measure of alcohol consumption used and the study population. The goals of this study were to (i) describe changes in drinking in a current cohort of older adults using a variety of measures of drinking and (ii) examine a number of different possible predictors of change. Methods:, This is a longitudinal study of a community-based sample surveyed at 2 time points, ages 53 and 64 years. We estimated a series of logistic regressions to predict change and stability in drinking categories of nondrinking, moderate drinking, and heavy drinking. Linear regressions were used to predict change in past-month drinking days, past-month average drinks per drinking day, and past-month total drinks. Results:, From age 53 to 64, average drinks per drinking day and heavy drinking decreased. Frequency of drinking increased for men and women, and total drinks per month increased for men. The most consistent predictors of drinking changes were gender, health, and education. Other factors predicted drinking change but were not consistent across drinking measures including: adolescent IQ, income, lifetime history of alcohol-related problems, religious service attendance, depression, debt, and changes in employment. Conclusions:, Heavy drinking decreases with age, but we may see more frequent moderate drinking with current and upcoming cohorts of older adults. Components of quantity and frequency of drinking change differently. Composite measures of total alcohol consumption may not be adequate for describing relevant changes in drinking over time. A number of factors predicted patterns of change in drinking and warrant further exploration. [source] The Alcohol Deprivation Effect in C57BL/6J Mice is Observed Using Operant Self-Administration Procedures and is Modulated by CRF-1 Receptor SignalingALCOHOLISM, Issue 1 2009Dennis R. Sparta Background:, The alcohol deprivation effect (ADE) is characterized by transient excessive alcohol consumption upon reinstatement of ethanol following a period of ethanol deprivation. While this phenomenon has been observed in rats using both bottle drinking (consummatory behavior) and operant self-administration (consummatory and appetitive "ethanol-seeking" behavior) procedures, ADE studies in mice have primarily relied on bottle drinking measures. Furthermore, the neurochemical pathways that modulate the ADE are not well understood. Therefore, we determined whether the ADE can be observed in C57BL/6J mice using operant self-administration procedures and if expression of the ADE is modulated by the corticotropin releasing factor-1 (CRF-1) receptor. Methods:, C57BL/6J mice were trained in a 2-hour operant self-administration paradigm to lever press for 10% ethanol or water on separate response keys. Between operant sessions, mice had access to ethanol in their homecage. Once stable responding occurred, mice were deprived of ethanol for 4 days and were then retested with ethanol in the operant paradigm for 3 consecutive days. Next, to assess the role of the CRF-1 receptor, mice were given intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection (0, 10, or 20 mg/kg) of the CRF-1 receptor antagonist CP-154,526 30 minutes before ADE testing. Additional experiments assessed (i) ADE responding in which the alternate response lever was inactive, (ii) the effects of CP-154,526 on self-administration of a 1% sucrose solution following 4 days of deprivation, and (iii) ADE responding in which mice did not received i.p. injections throughout the experiment. Results:, Mice exhibited a significant increase in postdeprivation lever responding for ethanol with either a water reinforced or inactive alternate lever. Interestingly, i.p. injection of a 10 mg/kg dose of CP-154,526 protected against the ADE while not affecting lever responding for a sucrose solution. Finally, baseline and deprivation-induced increases of ethanol reinforced lever responding were greater in mice not given i.p. injections. Conclusions:, The ADE in C57BL/6J mice can be modeled using the operant self-administration paradigm and increased ethanol self-administration associated with the ADE is modulated by CRF-1 receptor signaling. [source] Re-Examining Whether and Why Acculturation Relates to Drinking Outcomes in a Rigorous, National Survey of LatinosALCOHOLISM, Issue 12 2005Sarah E. Zemore Abstract: Background: Fundamental limitations have hampered conclusions surrounding acculturation's effects among Latinos. This research re-examines associations between acculturation and alcohol use, addressing the most troubling of these limitations. The research also explores mediators of the association, and the dimensional structure of acculturation. Methods: Linear regressions and scale analyses were used to analyze data from Latino adults in the U.S. (825 women, 761 men) sampled in the 1995 National Alcohol Survey. Analyses used a standard, reliable acculturation scale and well-validated drinking measures; systematically accounted for demographic covariates; and analyzed men and women separately. Results: As expected, higher acculturation was positively associated with a higher probability of drinking (vs. abstinence) among women, and higher average volumes and more frequent drunkenness among female drinkers. Acculturation was unrelated to alcohol use among men. Also as expected, mediational analyses of average volume supported expectations that gender-specific drinking norms would mediate acculturation's effects (though norms did not explain acculturation's associations with either drinking status or frequency of drunkenness). Analyses investigating depressive symptoms showed no support for the acculturation-stress model. Factor analyses of the acculturation scale supported the hypothesized distinctions between linguistic acculturation, attitudinal acculturation, and the social environment of acculturation. Further, items implying more intimate exposure to Anglo culture (i.e., language use) were most strongly related to drinking outcomes among women, supporting the normative interpretation of acculturation's effects on drinking. Conclusions: Results underline acculturation's influence on alcohol consumption among Latina women, and highlight the role of drinking norms in mediating this association. Results also suggest a multidimensional view of acculturation. The article recommends further research on drinking norms and other potential mediators of acculturation's effects among Latina women. [source] Gender Differences in Response to Sertraline Pharmacotherapy in Type A Alcohol DependenceTHE AMERICAN JOURNAL ON ADDICTIONS, Issue 3 2004Helen M. Pettinati Ph.D. We previously established that Babor Type A "lower-risk / severity" alcoholics (n = 55) had better treatment response to fourteen weeks of sertraline (200 mg/ day) than placebo, a finding not present for Type B "higher-risk /severity" alcoholics (n = 45). This exploratory study extended these results by examining the original sample for gender differences in response to sertraline pharmacotherapy. Type A alcoholic men, but not Type A alcoholic women, had consistently better outcomes with sertraline compared to placebo on several common drinking measures: time to relapse, days drinking, days drinking heavily, drinks per drinking day, and number of those continually abstinent. There were no significant differences in drinking with sertraline compared to placebo in Type B alcoholic men or women. [source] | ||||||||||