Alcohol habits in Sweden during 1997–2018: a repeated cross-sectional study

Abstract

Aims: This study describes changes in alcohol habits in age and gender strata among the Swedish general population during the 21-year period following the Swedish EU membership in 1995.

Methods: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) was distributed as a postal questionnaire to randomly selected cross-sectional samples every fourth year, starting in 1997.

Results: Six samples were included in this study. A comparison between 2014 and 2018 showed a tendency to decreasing average total AUDIT scores, particularly among men and in the youngest age group (Cohen’s d = 0.28).

Conclusion: The results should be understood in the context of declining response rates in this type of survey.

Keywords:

• AUDIT
• alcohol drinking
• response rates

Disclosure statement

H.K., A.H.B. and P.W. are the authors of a Swedish-language book (manual) for the AUDIT and DUDIT. P.W. coordinated, and A.H.B. participated in, evaluation of assessment instruments including the AUDIT for the 2015 National Board of Health and Welfare revision of National Guidelines. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare. The research also complies with ethical guidelines in Sweden for studies including humans. Such a statement is mentioned in the Methods section above.

Notes on contributors

All authors helped to plan and design the study. HK and TE made the first draft of the manuscript. All authors iterated the manuscript and approved final version.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working life and Welfare (grant number 2009-1705), and the Alcohol Research Council of the Swedish Alcohol Retailing Monopoly and Forskningsrådet om Hälsa, Arbetsliv och Välfärd.