Distribution of Drinks Consumed by U.S. Adults by Average Daily Alcohol Consumption: A Comparison of Two Nationwide Surveys

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Am J Prev Med
• Personal Author:
  Esser, Marissa B. ; Sacks, Jeffrey J. ; Sherk, Adam ; Karriker-Jaffe, Katherine J. ; Greenfield, Thomas K. ; Pierannunzi, Carol ; Brewer, Robert D.
• Description:
  Introduction:
  
  Studies have shown that estimates of alcohol consumption in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) are lower than those in other surveys of U.S. adults, potentially underestimating the public health impact of excessive drinking and related harms. This study compared estimates of adults’ drinking patterns and the distribution of drinks consumed by average daily alcohol consumption from the BRFSS and another nationwide telephone survey.
  
  Methods:
  
  The 2014–2015 National Alcohol Survey (NAS, N=7,067) and the 2015 BRFSS (N=408,069) were used to assess alcohol consumption among adults (≥18 years), analyzed in 2019. The weighted prevalence of binge-level drinking and the distribution of drinks consumed by average daily alcohol consumption (low, medium, high) were assessed for the previous 12-months using NAS and the previous 30-days using BRFSS, stratified by respondents’ characteristics.
  
  Results:
  
  The prevalence of binge-level drinking in a day was 26.1% (CI=24.4–27.8) for the NAS; and the binge drinking prevalence was 17.4% (CI=17.1–17.6) for the BRFSS. The prevalence of high average daily alcohol consumption among current drinkers was 8.2% for the NAS, accounting for 51.0% of total drinks consumed; and 3.3% for the BRFSS, accounting for 27.7% of total drinks consumed.
  
  Conclusions:
  
  NAS yearly prevalence estimates of binge-level drinking in a day and high average daily consumption were consistently higher than BRFSS monthly binge drinking and high average daily consumption prevalence estimates. When planning and evaluating prevention strategies, the impact of different survey designs and methods on estimates of excessive drinking and related harms is important to consider.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adult Alcohol Drinking Ethanol Humans Prevalence Surveys And Questionnaires
• Source:
  Am J Prev Med. 59(5):669-677
• Pubmed ID:
  32747177
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC7577921
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/ ; P50 AA005595/AA/NIAAA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U38 OT000203/OT/OSTLTS CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U38 OT000225/OT/OSTLTS CDC HHSUnited States/
• Name as Subject:
  Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Volume:
  59
• Issue:
  5
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:ff341f247b977aea9ec5fd038ef886bfba6cc556f2a8591ff22de8cf0c7d8ba0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/95828/cdc_95828_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 178.69 KB ]