Differences in the measured alcohol content of drinks between black, white and Hispanic men and women in a US national sample

Abstract

Aims-To measure and describe drink alcohol content differences between Hispanic, non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black men and women in the US.Design-A telephone survey re-interview of 397 respondents who originally participated in the 2005 National Alcohol Survey of whom 306 provided complete information on home drinks. Setting-United StatesParticipants-Adults 18 and older from across the US. Measurements-Direct measurement by respondents of simulated drink pours in respondents'own glassware using a provided beaker and reported beverage brands were used to calculate drink alcohol content.Findings-Black men were found to have the largest overall mean drink alcohol content at 0.79oz (23ml) of alcohol. This was significantly larger than the mean for white men or for black women and added 30% to black men's monthly alcohol intake when applied to their reported number of drinks. Spirits drinks were found to be particularly large for men. Multivariate models indicated that drink alcohol content differences are attributable more to income and family structure differences than to unmeasured cultural factors tied to race or ethnicity per se. Models predicting alcohol-related consequences and dependence indicate that adjusting drink alcohol content improves model fit and reduces differences between race/ethnicity defined groups.Conclusions-Differences in drink alcohol content by gender, race/ethnicity and beverage type choice should be considered in comparisons of drinking patterns and alcohol-related outcomes. Observed differences can be partially explained by measured characteristics regarding family structure and income.

Relationship of Life-Course Drinking Patterns to Diabetes, Heart Problems, and Hypertension Among Those 40 and Older in the 2005 U.S. National Alcohol Survey

“…Current drinking status was elicited from the monthly alcohol volume and the frequency of drinking fi ve or more drinks during the last 12 months. Alcohol volume was calculated from beverage-specifi c graduated frequency questions (Greenfi eld, 2000) and adjusted for estimated drink alcohol content by beverage type and context using data from methodological studies of drink alcohol content for both home (Kerr et al, 2005(Kerr et al, , 2009) and on-premise drinks. Individuals were classifi ed into six current drinking groups: (a) lifetime abstainers, (b) exdrinkers, (c) average volume of less than 2 drinks per month (occasional), (d) average volume of 2 to less than 30 drinks per month and never 5+ monthly (moderate volume), (e) average volume of 30 or more drinks per month and never 5+ monthly (higher volume), and (f) 5+ at least monthly (heavy occasion).…”

Prevalence and associated factors with alcohol use disorders among adults: a population-based study in southern Brazil

“…These factors influence how people drink in different ways, and can be protective or risk factors 2 . Among the factors associated with alcohol use disorders, being male, single, young and declaring to be light-skinned black are more likely related to the development of alcohol use disorders [3][4][5] . Moreover, a Brazilian study found a higher chance of association of alcohol abuse in patients with common mental disorders 6 .…”

Hispanic Americans Baseline Alcohol Survey (HABLAS): Effects of Container Size Adjustments on Estimates of Alcohol Consumption Across Hispanic National Groups

“…Predicted differences are complicated by two opposing infl uences. In previous work, the extent of underreporting has generally increased at higher drinking levels and at higher socioeconomic levels (in particular, education; Graves, 2000, 2001;Kaskutas and Kerr, 2008;Kerr et al, 2009). In the HABLAS sample, Puerto Ricans and Cuban Americans show large differences in each of these variables, with Puerto Ricans consuming more alcohol and reporting lower levels of education (for an overview of sociodemographic differences between HABLAS subgroups, see Caetano et al, 2009).…”

“…Curiously, no studies have explored multivariable predictive models of underreporting (but see Kerr et al, 2009, for an approach that comes closest to doing this). In the present study, differences between Hispanic subgroups were explored, adjusting for several common demographic background characteristics.…”

“…Driven in part by fi ndings of substantial undercoverage of alcohol sales data in population surveys and journaling methods (Heeb and Gmel, 2005;Lemmens, 1994;Stockwell et al, 2004), the potential for bias in alcohol consumption measures has been a recurring focus of investigation in alcohol research. The ramifi cations are numerous: Inaccurate measurement can be expected to have an impact on estimates of risk factors for alcohol use, screening for risky drinking behavior in clinical and public health contexts (e.g., and estimates of associations between consumption and alcohol-related problems (Kerr et al, 2009).…”