Abstract
The objective of this study was to identify the prevalence and characteristics of hazardous – harmful drinkers in a Thai community population using a cross-sectional survey in two urban and five rural areas in Southern Thailand. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 1005 subjects, aged ≥ 35, at the community centres to collect data on demographic characteristics and smoking and drinking patterns. The Alcohol Use Identification Test (AUDIT) was used to classify the subjects into three groups: hazardous – harmful drinkers (AUDIT ≥ 8), non-problem drinkers (AUDIT= 1 – 7) and non-drinkers (AUDIT= 0). Blood samples were drawn from 200 randomly selected subjects to determine the gamma glutamyltransferease (GGT) level. The analysis was performed on 898 respondents, 325 males and 573 females. Age-adjusted prevalence of hazardous – harmful drinkers was 10% (27%in males and 1% in females). Adjusted for other variables, men were seven times (95% CI = 4.2 – 11.5) more likely to be non-problem drinkers and 42 times (95% CI =18.1 – 99.0) more likely to be hazardous – harmful drinkers than women. Median intensity of drinking was 43 g and 25 g per drinking day in the hazardous – harmful and non-problem drinkers, respectively. Of all the subjects, 48%, 25% and 15% of the hazardous – harmful, non-problem and non-drinkers had abnormal GGT. Hazardous – harmful drinking is a prevalent problem in male general population in Thailand. [Assanangkornchai S, Pinkaew P, Apakupakul P. Prevalence of hazardous – harmful drinking in a southern Thai community. Drug Alcohol Rev 2003;22:287 – 293]