Drinking patterns and drinking problems in 1984: results from a general population survey

Abstract

Findings on alcohol consumption and alcohol problems from a 1984 general population survey are presented and compared to previous survey findings. Eighteen percent of all men and 5% of all women were classified as frequent heavy drinkers; 6% of all men drinkers and 2% of all women drinkers reported that they got "drunk" as often as once per week or more. A system for measuring drinking problems, based largely on the work of Cahalan and Room, is presented and explained. As when interpreting any system of measuring drinking problems in a general population survey, readers must be aware that the resulting prevalence rates are strongly influenced by arbitrary decisions about where cutpoints should be drawn. With this caveat in mind, the results show that 9% of men drinkers and 4% of women drinkers reported problematic drinking behavior at what is defined as a moderate level of severity. Similarly, 14% of men drinkers and 6% of women drinkers reported adverse tangible consequences of drinking at a moderate level of severity. The age and sex distributions of drinking, heavy drinking, intoxication, and drinking problems were as expected, with greater proportions of men than women reporting these things and greater proportions of younger than older drinkers reporting them.