Estimation of usual occasion-based individual drinking patterns using diary survey data

Hill-McManus, D., Angus, C., Meng, Y., Holmes, J., Brennan, A. and Meier, P. S. (2014) Estimation of usual occasion-based individual drinking patterns using diary survey data. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 134, pp. 136-143. (doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.09.022) (PMID:24128380)

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Abstract

Background: In order to successfully address excessive alcohol consumption it is essential to have a means of measuring the drinking patterns of a nation. Owing to the multi-dimensional nature of drinking patterns, usual survey methods have their limitations. The aim of this study was to make use of extremely detailed diary survey data to demonstrate a method of combining different survey measures of drinking in order to reduce these limitations. Methods: Data for 1724 respondents of the 2000/01 National Diet and Nutrition Survey was used to obtain a drinking occasion dataset, by plotting the respondent's blood alcohol content over time. Drinking frequency, level and variation measures were chosen to characterise drinking behaviour and usual behaviour was estimated via statistical methods. Results: Complex patterns in drinking behaviour were observed amongst population subgroups using the chosen consumption measures. The predicted drinking distribution combines diary data equivalent coverage with a more accurate proportion of non-drinkers. Conclusions: This statistical analysis provides a means of obtaining average consumption measures from diary data and thus reducing the main limitation of this type of data for many applications. We hope that this will facilitate the use of such data in a wide range of applications such as risk modelling, especially for acute harms, and burden of disease studies.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Meier, Professor Petra
Authors: Hill-McManus, D., Angus, C., Meng, Y., Holmes, J., Brennan, A., and Meier, P. S.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > MRC/CSO SPHSU
Journal Name:Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:0376-8716
ISSN (Online):1879-0046
Published Online:28 September 2013

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