Investigation of factors that affect the frequency of alcohol use of employees in Turkey

ABSTRACT

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the socio-demographic and economic factors affecting the frequency of alcohol use by employees aged 15 and above in Turkey.

Method: In this study, the micro data set obtained from the Turkey Health Survey, which was conducted by the Turkey Statistical Institute between 2008 and 2016, was employed. The factors affecting the frequency of alcohol use by employees were determined by employing ordered logistic regression, ordered probit regression, and generalized ordered probit regression analyses.

Results: According to the analysis results, it was concluded that the best model was the generalized ordered probit regression. The results of this model showed that, gender, age, education level, occupational status, marital status, income level, psycho-social support status and survey year were the variables affecting the frequency of alcohol use.

Conclusion: In the development of preventive strategies in regarding alcohol use, male individuals, individuals between the ages of 25–55, individuals with university degrees, divorced/widowed individuals, administrators, professionals, individuals from low-income segments, and depressed individuals, who are receiving psycho-social support, should be considered as priorities and more attention should be paid to these groups.

KEYWORDS:

• Alcohol consumption
• alcohol users
• individual data
• employees
• generalized ordered probit regression

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Turkish Statistical Institute for the data. The views and opinions expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors only and do not necessarily represent the views, official policy, or position of the Turkish Statistical Institute.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Role of the funding source

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