Heavy drinking and contextual risk factors among adults in South Africa : findings from the international alcohol control study
Date
2018
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMC (part of Springer Nature)
Abstract
Background: There is limited information about the potential individual-level and contextual drivers of heavy
drinking in South Africa. This study aimed to identify risk factors for heavy drinking in Tshwane, South Africa.
Methods: A household survey using a multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling design. Complete consumption
and income data were available on 713 adults. Heavy drinking was defined as consuming ≥120 ml (96 g) of absolute
alcohol (AA) for men and ≥ 90 ml (72 g) AA for women at any location at least monthly.
Results: 53% of the sample were heavy drinkers. Bivariate analyses revealed that heavy drinking differed by marital
status, primary drinking location, and container size. Using simple logistic regression, only cider consumption was
found to lower the odds of heavy drinking. Persons who primarily drank in someone else’s home, nightclubs, and
sports clubs had increased odds of heavy drinking. Using multiple logistic regression and adjusting for marital status
and primary container size, single persons were found to have substantially higher odds of heavy drinking. Persons
who drank their primary beverage from above average-sized containers at their primary location had 7.9 times the
odds of heavy drinking as compared to persons who drank from average-sized containers. Some significant
associations between heavy drinking and age, race, and income were found for certain beverages.
Conclusion: Rates of heavy drinking were higher than expected giving impetus to various alcohol policy
reforms under consideration in South Africa. Better labeling of the alcohol content of different containers is
needed together with limiting production, marketing and serving of alcohol in large containers.
Description
CITATION: Trangenstein, P. J., et al. 2018. Heavy drinking and contextual risk factors among adults in South Africa : findings from the International Alcohol Control study. Trangenstein et al. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 13:43, doi:10.1186/s13011-018-0182-1.
The original publication is available at https://substanceabusepolicy.biomedcentral.com
The original publication is available at https://substanceabusepolicy.biomedcentral.com
Keywords
Alcoholism -- Risk factors -- South Africa, Drinking of alcoholic beverages -- Risk factors -- South Africa, International alcohol control study
Citation
Trangenstein, P. J., et al. 2018. Heavy drinking and contextual risk factors among adults in South Africa : findings from the International Alcohol Control study. Trangenstein et al. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 13:43, doi:10.1186/s13011-018-0182-1