The perception of young adult alcohol consumers regarding alcohol consumption and the risky behaviors of drinking alcohol in Tehran, Iran

ABSTRACT

Objective: Alcohol consumption is considered a crime and a taboo in Iran. There is very limited information regarding the prevalence of alcohol consumption and associated risky behaviors in Iran. However, data show that alcohol consumption and intoxication are prevalent in Iran. This study investigates the perception of alcohol consumers, aged 20 to 45 years, living in Tehran, regarding alcohol consumption and the risky behaviors associated with drinking alcohol.

Method: This qualitative study used in-depth interviews obtained from a snowball sampling method. The researcher interviewed 30 subjects.

Results: According to respondents, the primary reason for drinking was to enjoy life (29.11%). It appears that the restrictive culture in Iran is a reason that people choose to drink. Nearly all the participants did not know about drinking in moderation and did not have enough knowledge about the dangers of alcohol consumption.

Conclusion: Iranian consumers did not have enough information about drinking in moderation and knew about only some risks of drinking. Knowing the risks did not markedly affect alcohol consumption, other than possibly limiting intake somewhat.

KEYWORDS:

• Health
• alcohol consumption
• drinking
• Iranian alcohol consumers
• perception

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my appreciation to Dr. Dan Vaillancourt and Dr. Roksana Mirkazemi, Mr Shahin Negari and at last not the least Mr Saman Kefayatpour for their comments that greatly improved the manuscript.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.