Alcohol consumption and associations with sociodemographic and health-related characteristics in Germany: A population survey

Claire Garnett; Sabrina Kastaun; Jamie Brown; Daniel Kotz

doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107159

Alcohol consumption and associations with sociodemographic and health-related characteristics in Germany: A population survey

Addict Behav. 2022 Feb:125:107159. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107159. Epub 2021 Oct 19.

Authors

Claire Garnett¹, Sabrina Kastaun², Jamie Brown³, Daniel Kotz⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK; SPECTRUM Consortium, London, UK. Electronic address: c.garnett@ucl.ac.uk.
² Institute of General Practice, Addiction Research and Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty of the Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
³ Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK; SPECTRUM Consortium, London, UK.
⁴ Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK; Institute of General Practice, Addiction Research and Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty of the Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany.

Abstract

Background: To assess the prevalence of ever-drinking and hazardous drinking among adults in Germany, and investigate the factors associated with level of alcohol consumption.

Methods: Cross-sectional population survey of a representative sample of 11,331 adults in Germany (2018 to 2019). The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) was used to define ever-drinking (AUDIT-C>=1), hazardous drinking (AUDIT-C>=5) and an overall AUDIT-C (alcohol consumption) score (from 0 to 12). Regression models were used to examine sociodemographic and health-related characteristics associated with AUDIT-C score.

Results: The prevalence of ever-drinking and hazardous drinking was 84.7% (95% CI = 84.1-85.4) and 19.4% (95% CI = 18.6-20.1), respectively. The mean AUDIT-C score was 2.8 (SD = 2.16). AUDIT-C scores were independently positively associated with having medium (B_adj = 0.12, 95% CI = 0.02-0.21) and high (B_adj = 0.11, 95% CI = 0.01-0.21) educational qualifications (compared with low), monthly income (B_adj = 0.31 per €1,000, 95% CI = 0.26-0.36), being a current smoker (B_adj = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.86-1.02), anxiety (B_adj = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.02-0.50), and living in North East (B_adj = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.29-0.58), North West (B_adj = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.39-0.55) and South East (B_adj = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.64-0.93) Germany (compared with South West), and negatively associated with age (B_adj = -0.17, 95% CI = -0.21- -0.13), being female (B_adj = -1.21, 95% CI = -1.28- -1.14) and depression (B_adj = -0.22, 95% CI = -0.43- -0.02).

Conclusion: In a large, representative sample of adults in Germany, the majority were ever-drinkers and one fifth were hazardous drinkers. Higher alcohol consumption scores were associated with being younger, male, current smoker, of high socioeconomic position, anxiety, and not living in South West Germany, and lower scores were associated with depression. These groups may benefit from targeted alcohol reduction policies and support.

Keywords: Adults; Alcohol consumption; Germany; Hazardous drinking; Population survey; Prevalence.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Alcohol Drinking / epidemiology
Alcoholism*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Germany / epidemiology
Humans
Male
Prevalence

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding