A Comparison of Chinese Adults Who Consume Homemade versus Commercial Alcohol

Abstract

Background

Little is known about adults in China who drink homemade alcohol, and whether they are at elevated risk of harms relative to those who drink alcohol from commercial sources. Purpose: We describe and contrast adults in China who regularly consume either homemade or commercially available alcohol, or both. Methods: Household-based in-person interviews were conducted in 2018 with adults in Jiangshan and Lanxi. We examined the characteristics of 833 adults who had consumed alcohol within the previous 30 days, comparing those who drank commercial alcohol only with those who drank homemade alcohol only and alcohol from both sources. Results: Regression analyses revealed that drinkers of both homemade and commercial alcohol consumed more drinks and were more likely to report heavy drinking than did drinkers of commercial or homemade alcohol only and were also more likely to meet criteria for alcohol use disorder. We also found that homemade-only alcohol drinkers were at elevated risk for this disorder. Conclusions: Drinkers of both homemade and commercial alcohol in China may be at risk for alcohol-related problems and constitute a little understood population for whom further research is needed. The AB InBev Foundation supported this study.

Keywords:

• China
• commercial alcohol
• homemade alcohol
• alcohol use disorder

Acknowledgments

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the AB InBev Foundation or AB InBev. By contract, the authors had complete independence to determine the contents of this manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors have been supported within the past three years by funding from the alcohol industry to evaluate industry-sponsored programs to reduce harmful alcohol use.

Data availability statement

Study data are available from the AB InBev Foundation upon written request.

Additional information

Funding

This research and preparation of this manuscript were supported by funding from the AB InBev Foundation.