Alcohol abuse and dependence in an Icelandic cohort as estimated with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule

Abstract

This Paper reports the period and lifetime prevalence rates for alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, and alcohol abuse and dependence in a random sample of people born in Iceland in 1931 and interviewed at the age of 55–57 years. The diagnoses were made in accordance with the DSM-III, on the basis of the National Institute of Mental Health's Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) used by trained lay interviewers. The total lifetime prevalence was 27.5%: 45.6% for men but only 8.5% for women. The mean age of onset was 27.9 years for men and 41.9 years for women. The commonest symptoms of a pathologic pattern of alcohol use were having a blackout, 81%; drinking a fifth or more in 1 day, 68%; and encountering family opposition to drinking, 66%.

Key Words:

• Abuse
• Alcohol
• Dependence
• Prevalence