Survey of Alcohol Consumption and Drinking Patterns Among Young Adults Residing in Moscow in Transition into Adulthood: Socio-Demography, Quantity, Frequency, Context

Kirzhanova V. V.
DM, PhD, Head, Department of Epidemiology¹

Taylor A. W.
PhD, Adjunct Professor, Population Research & Outcome Studies, Discipline of Medicine²

Bewick B. M.
PhD, Associate Professor, School of Medicine, Leeds Institute of Health Sciences³

Bobkov E. N.
Researcher, Department of Epidemiology¹

Smirnovskaya M. S.
Researcher, Department of Monitoring of Drug Situation⁴

1 - National Research Center on Addictions – branch V. Serbsky National Medical Research Centre for Psychiatry and Narcology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation
2 - The University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
3 - University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
4 - Moscow Research and Practical Center on Addiction, Moscow Department of Healthcare, Russian Federation

Financial support for the study was provided by International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD). Donors did not participate in the analysis, interpretation of the data and writing of the article. The author team had full access to the data and was ultimately responsible for the decision to submit for publication.

The authors state that they have no competing interests.

The design of the study was agreed with all authors. V.V. Kirzhanova and A.U. Taylor analyzed the data. V.V. Kirzhanova prepared the original text, and all authors reviewed and edited the draft.

Relevance. The prevalence of alcohol abuse in the Russian Federation is extremely relevant. An active alcohol policy aimed at reducing alcohol consumption among the population including young people is currently implemented in the country at the state level. However, there were no representative studies devoted to alcohol consumption among young people aged 18-34 in the context of assessing the quantitative indices of alcohol consumption depending on socio-demographic and cultural features. Aim and targets. To study the prevalence, the quantitative characteristics of alcohol consumption, the types of alcoholic beverages, the age of first experience of alcohol use, the influence of the main demographic characteristics in transition into adulthood among young people aged 18-34 in Moscow. Methodology. Questioning by specially trained interviewers of young people aged 18-34 sampled on the basis of a multi-stage stratification. Results. The prevalence of alcohol use during the last 12 months for men and women as a whole was 77.1%, for men – 80.7%, for women – 73.4%. The most common alcoholic beverage was beer – it was consumed by 57.2% of respondents, wine – 52.6%, strong alcohol – 47.8% and low-alcohol energy drinks – 11.3%. The average age of the first experience in drinking alcohol is 16.4 years (for men 16.1 years, for women 16.8 years). The average age of the first intoxication in life is 17.2 years (for men 16.1 years, for women 17.6 years). The frequency of alcohol use during the last 12 months among men is on average 72 days per year, for women – 25 days. Among all respondents for the last 12 months 23.6% did not drink alcohol («abstainers»), 68.7% – classified as «low drinkers», 4.2% – «moderate drinkers», 3.5% were attributed to the category of «heavy drinkers.» On average, one respondent using alcohol consumes 14.9 grams of pure alcohol per day, a male 24.1 grams, and a female 5.1 grams. The amount of alcohol consumed increases with growing up. Reduction of alcohol consumption was observed after 27 years in men and after 31 years in women. Conclusions. Consumption of alcohol in Moscow remains high despite the measures taken by the government. It was revealed a cohort of young people identified as «moderate drinkers (4.2%) and» heavy drinkers «(3.5%). for whom the development of preventive interventions is necessary.

alcohol, gender, age, Moscow

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