Alcohol consumption patterns of the Hungarian general and Roma populations

Ali Abbas Mohammad Kurshed; Ferenc Vincze; Péter Pikó; Zsigmond Kósa; János Sándor; Róza Ádány; Judit Diószegi

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.1003129

Alcohol consumption patterns of the Hungarian general and Roma populations

Front Public Health. 2023 Jan 10:10:1003129. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1003129. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ali Abbas Mohammad Kurshed^{1

2

3}, Ferenc Vincze¹, Péter Pikó⁴, Zsigmond Kósa⁵, János Sándor¹, Róza Ádány^{1

4}, Judit Diószegi¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
² Doctoral School of Health Sciences, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
³ Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁴ ELKH-DE Public Health Research Group, Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
⁵ Department of Health Methodology and Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Debrecen, Nyíregyháza, Hungary.

Abstract

Introduction: Harmful alcohol use is a significant public health problem worldwide, though the alcohol-related burden affects disproportionately certain populations and ethnic minorities, with the WHO European Region being the most heavily affected and putting an increased risk on Roma populations. This ethnic minority group is the largest and most vulnerable ethnic minority in Europe and Hungary as well.

Methods: The present study aims to describe and compare the alcohol consumption behaviors of the Hungarian general and Roma populations using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), which provides a comprehensive view of alcohol consumption behavior. In addition, a decomposition analysis was performed when the multivariate logistic or Poisson regression model showed significant differences between the two samples.

Results: Our findings suggest that Roma people in our study sample experience more alcohol-related harm, even when considering past problems. The decomposition analysis revealed that gender and relationship status differences act more intensely among Roma than non-Roma when considering alcohol-related harm.

Discussion: Equalizing these differences would be expected to reduce the Hungarian general and Roma populations' alcohol-related harm frequency gap. Investigating alcohol-attributed harms at the ethnicity level provides important information to identify high-risk groups and, thus, to design and implement more targeted and accessible interventions for alcohol problems.

Keywords: AUDIT; Hungarian population; Roma population; alcohol consumption; decomposition.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Alcohol Drinking / epidemiology
Alcoholism*
Ethnicity*
Humans
Hungary
Minority Groups

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00005 project. The project was co-financed by the European Union under the European Social Fund and European Regional Development Fund, as well as by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (TK2016-78) and the Eötvös Loránd Research Network (TKCS-2021/32). Project no. 135784 has also been implemented with the support provided by the National Research, Development, and Innovation Fund of Hungary, financed under the K_20 funding scheme.