Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of alcohol-related social problems, as well as to assess the relationship between alcohol-related social problems and patterns of alcohol consumption in the general population during the year 2004.
Methods: A total of 2,500 individuals, age range from 14 to 70 years, in Castille and Leon, Spain, were surveyed in 2004 for their patterns of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related social consequences during the previous year.
Results: Participants who admitted to having had some kind of social problem related to the consumption of alcohol in the previous year were 6.5%, with a mean of 2.4 alcohol-related social problems. The most frequent problems cited were "argument, discussion, or serious conflict without physical aggression" (3%).
Conclusions: The present study shows that the reporting of alcohol-related social problems was quite frequent and that having alcohol-related social problems was related to drunkenness episodes in the previous year, having 5 or more drinks on a single occasion in the previous year, and alcohol intake.