Daily use of alcohol in the Norwegian general population: Prevalence and associated factors

Abstract

<jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title> <jats:p>Harmful use of alcohol is a major public health problem. While harm is often researched in the context of heavy drinking episodes, high-frequency drinking, even when drinking moderate quantities, constitutes a health risk in a longer perspective. The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of daily use of alcohol in the Norwegian general population and to assess sociodemographic, mental health-related and personal resource variables associated with daily use of alcohol.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title> <jats:p>A cross-sectional survey concerned with health, illness and serious life events was distributed to 5,500 persons in the general population in Norway (response rate 36%). Sociodemographic variables, personal resource variables (general self-efficacy, optimism and extraversion) and psychological distress (current anxiety and/or depression) were assessed with regards to their associations with daily drinking in unadjusted and adjusted regression models.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title> <jats:p>Daily use of alcohol was reported by 39 persons (2.2%) in the sample (3.1% of men and 1.4% of women). While general self-efficacy, optimism and extraversion were unrelated to daily drinking, the adjusted model revealed that male sex (OR: 2.18, <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.05), being unemployed/not in education (OR: 3.10, <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.05) and reporting current anxiety and/or depression (OR: 3.12, <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.01) were associated with daily use of alcohol.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title> <jats:p>The study has contributed to the knowledge about daily drinkers in a representative sample of the Norwegian population. A proportion of 2.2% was found to drink alcohol on a daily basis. Compared to their counterparts, the odds of daily drinking were higher for men, unemployed persons and persons reporting current psychological distress. Public health initiatives aiming at reducing harmful use of alcohol may pay particular attention to these subsets of the population.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

Use of Alcohol and Addictive Drugs During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Norway: Associations With Mental Health and Pandemic-Related Problems

“…Adjusted for all variables, daily use of alcohol retained its association with depression. The detected association between alcohol use and depression is in line with a range of studies ( 23 ), including a recent Norwegian population study in which having anxiety or depression was associated with daily alcohol use ( 24 ). Thus, use of alcohol appears to be relatively independent from external circumstances.…”

“…Therefore, one should be cautious when comparing prevalence rates related to the use of alcohol and addictive drugs to previously established prevalence rates in the general population. In comparison to previously established prevalence rates (15,24), it appears that the rate of daily alcohol use is similar, whereas the rates of "sometimes/weekly/daily" use of cannabis, sedatives, and painkillers are lower in this study. However, it has been argued that skewed samples are more prone to affect prevalence rates of substance use, while less prone to affect associations between predictors and substance use outcomes (43,44).…”

Use of Alcohol and Addictive Drugs During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Associations with Mental Health and Pandemic-Related Problems

“…Adjusted for all variables, daily use of alcohol retained its association with depression. The detected association between alcohol use and depression is in line with a range of studies [18], including a recent Norwegian population study in which having anxiety or depression was associated with daily alcohol use [19]. Thus, use of alcohol appears to be relatively independent from external circumstances.…”

Substance use in the Norwegian general population: prevalence and associations with disease

“…However, while weekly drinking was associated with less health problems, daily drinking may be associated with more health problems. A recent study showed that those with the most frequent drinking pattern (daily alcohol intake) had higher risk of experiencing psychological distress, compared to those with a less frequent drinking pattern (Bonsaksen et al, 2020).…”