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Hazardous Drinkers (hazardous + drinker)
Selected AbstractsHazardous Drinking: Prevalence and Associations in the Finnish General PopulationALCOHOLISM, Issue 9 2008Jukka T. Halme Background:, Hazardous drinking, defined as consuming alcohol on a risky level and not meeting the diagnostic criteria of alcohol use disorders (AUDs), has been suggested for a new complementary nondependence diagnosis. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and associations of hazardous drinking in comparison to AUDs, moderate drinking, and abstinence. Methods:, A national representative sample of Finns was examined in the Health 2000 Survey. For 4477 subjects aged 30 to 64 years (76%, 2341 females), both the quantity frequency data about alcohol consumption and Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) data concerning AUD diagnoses were available. The nationally recommended limits for hazardous dinking were used (males: 24 drinks, females: 16 drinks/wk). Logistic regression models were used to analyze associations. Results:, The prevalence of hazardous drinking was 5.8%. Hazardous drinking was more prevalent among males than females (8.5% vs. 3.1%). It was most prevalent among the subjects aged 40 to 49 years (7.3%), divorced or separated (8.3%), unemployed (8.2%) and subjects living in the southern (Helsinki) region (7.5%). AUDs versus hazardous drinking were more likely to be in males versus females and in the unemployed versus employed. Subjects aged 40 and over had higher odds for hazardous drinking versus AUDs. The odds for hazardous versus moderate drinking were higher for males versus females (adjusted odds ratio = 3.24), for subjects aged over 40 years, unemployed versus employed and cohabiting, divorced/separated or unmarried subjects versus married subjects. Conclusion:, The high prevalence of hazardous drinking makes it an important public health concern. Hazardous drinkers have different sociodemographic characteristics as compared to people in other alcohol use categories. [source] Alcohol use among Australian secondary students in 1996DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, Issue 4 2000VICTORIA M. WHITE Abstract This research estimates the prevalence of alcohol use among Australian secondary students in 1996 and examines trends in alcohol prevalence over a 12-year period. A national randomly selected representative sample of 434 secondary schools participated in the 1996 study. Eghty students were selected randomly from each school and completed a questionnaire anonymously. Current drinking (drinking alcohol in the week before the survey) increased with age from 17% of boys and 10% of girls aged 12 to 56% of boys and 50% of girls aged 17. Comparisons with data collected by similar surveys in 1984, 1987, 1990 and 1993 showed that while fewer 12,15-year-olds were current drinkers in 1996 than in 1984 or 1987, the 1996 proportion was no different from the 1993 proportion. In 1996, there were more hazardous drinkers among male current drinkers aged 12,15 than in any other survey period. Among 16-and 17-year-olds, there were more current drinkers in 1996 than in 1993 or 1990, and more male and female current drinkers were drinking at hazardous levels in 1996 than in 1987 and 1990. Extrapolating from the 1996 findings, nearly 424000 students aged 12,17 years were current drinkers. [source] Retraining automatic action-tendencies to approach alcohol in hazardous drinkersADDICTION, Issue 2 2010Reinout W. Wiers ABSTRACT Aims The main aim of this study was to test whether automatic action-tendencies to approach alcohol can be modified, and whether this affects drinking behaviour. Design and participants Forty-two hazardous drinkers were assigned randomly to a condition in which they were implicitly trained to avoid or to approach alcohol, using a training variety of the alcohol Approach Avoidance Test (AAT). Participants pushed or pulled a joystick in response to picture-format (landscape or portrait). The pictures depicted alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks. Participants in the avoid-alcohol condition pushed most alcoholic and pulled most non-alcoholic drinks. For participants in the approach-alcohol condition these contingencies were reversed. After the implicit training, participants performed a taste test, including beers and soft drinks. Automatic action tendencies at post-test were assessed with the AAT, including both trained and untrained pictures, and with a different test (Implicit Association Test, IAT). We further tested effects on subjective craving. Results Action tendencies for alcohol changed in accordance with training condition, with the largest effects in the clinically relevant avoid-alcohol condition. These effects occurred outside subjective awareness and generalized to new pictures in the AAT and to an entirely different test using words, rather than pictures (IAT). In relatively heavy drinking participants who demonstrated changed action tendencies in accordance with their training condition, effects were found on drinking behaviour, with participants in the approach-alcohol condition drinking more alcohol than participants in the avoid-alcohol condition. No effect was found on subjective craving. Conclusions Retraining automatic processes may help to regain control over addictive impulses, which points to new treatment possibilities. [source] An Evaluation of an Intervention to Assist Primary Care Physicians in Screening and Educating Older Patients Who Use AlcoholJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 11 2005Arlene Fink PhD Objectives: To evaluate whether providing physicians and older patients with personalized reports of drinking risks and benefits and patient education reduces alcohol-related risks and problems. Design: Prospective comparison study. Setting: Community primary care. Participants: Twenty-three physicians and 665 patients aged 65 and older. Intervention: Combined report, in which six physicians and 212 patients received reports of patients' drinking classifications and patients also received education; patient report, in which 245 patients received reports and education, but their five physicians did not receive reports; and usual care. Measurements: Assessments at baseline and 12 months later to determine patients' nonhazardous (no known risks), hazardous (risks for problems), or harmful (presence of problems) classifications using the Computerized Alcohol-Related Problems Survey (CARPS). The CARPS contains a scanned screening measure and scoring algorithms and automatically produces patient and physician reports and patient education. Results: At baseline, 21% were harmful drinkers, and 26% were hazardous drinkers. The patient report and combined report interventions were each associated with greater odds of lower-risk drinking at follow-up than usual care (odds ratio=1.59 and 1.23, respectively, P<.05 for each). The patient report intervention significantly reduced harmful drinking at follow-up from an expected 21% in usual care to 16% and increased nonhazardous drinking from 52% expected in usual care to 58%. Patients in the combined report intervention experienced a significantly greater average decrease in quantity and frequency. Conclusion: Older primary care patients can effectively reduce their alcohol consumption and other drinking risks when given personalized information about their drinking and health. [source] Associations Among GABRG1, Level of Response to Alcohol, and Drinking BehaviorsALCOHOLISM, Issue 8 2009Lara A. Ray Background:, Recent studies of the genetics of alcoholism have focused on a cluster of genes encoding for ,-aminobutyric acid (GABAA) receptor subunits, which is thought to play a role in the expression of addiction phenotypes. This study examined allelic associations between 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the GABRG1 gene (rs1391166 and rs1497571) and alcohol phenotypes, namely level of response to alcohol, alcohol use patterns, and alcohol-related problems. Method:, Participants were non-treatment-seeking seeking hazardous drinkers (n = 124) who provided DNA samples, participated in a face-to-face interview for level of response to alcohol, and completed a series of drinking and individual differences measures. Results:, Analyses revealed that a SNP of the GABRG1 gene (rs1497571) was associated with level of response to alcohol and drinking patterns in this subclinical sample. Follow-up mediational analyses were also conducted to examine putative mechanisms underlying these associations. Discussion:, These findings replicate and extend recent research suggesting that genetic variation at the GABRG1 locus may underlie the expression of alcohol phenotypes, including level of response to alcohol. [source] Impact of Alcohol Exposure After Pregnancy Recognition on Ultrasonographic Fetal Growth MeasuresALCOHOLISM, Issue 5 2006Nancy S. Handmaker Background: More than 3 decades after Jones and Smith (1973) reported on the devastation caused by alcohol exposure on fetal development, the rates of heavy drinking during pregnancy remain relatively unchanged. Early identification of fetal alcohol exposure and maternal abstinence led to better infant outcomes. This study examined the utility of biometry for detecting alcohol-related fetal growth impairment. Methods: We obtained fetal ultrasound measures from routine ultrasound examinations for 167 pregnant hazardous drinkers who were enrolled in a brief alcohol intervention study. The fetal measures for women who quit after learning of their pregnancies were compared with measures for women who continued some drinking throughout the course of their pregnancies. Because intensity of alcohol consumption is associated with poorer fetal outcomes, separate analyses were conducted for the heavy (average of ,5 drinks per drinking day) alcohol consumers. Fetal measures from the heavy-exposed fetuses were also compared with measures from a nondrinking group that was representative of normal, uncomplicated pregnancies from our clinics. Analyses of covariance were used to determine whether there were differences between groups after controlling for influences of gestational age and drug abuse. Results: Nearly half of the pregnant drinkers abstained after learning of their pregnancies. When women reportedly quit drinking early in their pregnancies, fetal growth measures were not significantly different from a non,alcohol-exposed group, regardless of prior drinking patterns. Any alcohol consumption postpregnancy recognition among the heavy drinkers resulted in reduced cerebellar growth as well as decreased cranial to body growth in comparison with women who either quit drinking or who were nondrinkers. Amphetamine abuse was predictive of larger cranial to body growth ratios. Conclusions: Alterations in fetal biometric measurements were observed among the heavy drinkers only when they continued drinking after becoming aware of their pregnancies. Although the reliance on self-reported drinking is a limitation in this study, these findings support the benefits of early abstinence and the potential for ultrasound examinations in the detection of fetal alcohol effects. [source] Hazardous alcohol use and treatment outcome in male combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorderJOURNAL OF TRAUMATIC STRESS, Issue 1 2003Stanley R. Steindl Abstract The relationship between alcohol problems and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains unclear. Six hundred and eight combat veterans diagnosed with PTSD were assessed for PTSD symptoms and alcohol problems prior to group cognitive,behavioral treatment. They were reassessed 3 and 9 months after treatment. Participants were classified into low-risk and hazardous drinkers at each time point. Drinking status at intake did not predict PTSD symptoms at intake or follow-up. However, drinking status was associated with PTSD symptoms when both were assessed at follow-up. PTSD arousal symptoms were the only symptom cluster to differentiate drinking groups. [source] Alcohol Use Disorders: Screening and DiagnosisTHE AMERICAN JOURNAL ON ADDICTIONS, Issue 2003ABPP, Stephen A. Maisto Ph.D. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of empirically supported, primarily self-report methods of screening and diagnosis related to alcohol use disorders (AUDs). The discussion of screening instruments focuses on the primary care setting, and the diagnosis instruments discussion centers on the alcohol (and other drug) treatment setting. The literature shows that the AUDIT and the CA GE are the most widely validated methods of screening for AUDs in primary care and may be applied readily in that context. Similarly, a number of instruments designed to derive DSM-IV (and ICD-10) AUD diagnoses, as well as constructs related to how AUDs are defined, are available and can meet a variety of clinical needs. Future research priorities include further development of brief methods to identify hazardous drinkers or individuals who have an AUD, as well as refinement of diagnosis instruments to increase their application across treatment settings and subpopulations. 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