Alcohol- and drug-use disorders in Australia: implications of the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing.
OBJECTIVE
This study reports the prevalence and correlates of ICD-10 alcohol- and drug-use disorders in the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (NSMHWB) and discusses their implications for treatment.


METHODS
The NSMHWB was a nationally representative household survey of 10641 Australian adults that assessed participants for symptoms of the most prevalent ICD-10 and DSM-IV mental disorders, including alcohol- and drug-use disorders.


RESULTS
In the past 12 months 6.5% of Australian adults met criteria for an ICD-10 alcohol-use disorder and 2.2% had another ICD-10 drug-use disorder. Men were at higher risk than women of developing alcohol- and drug-use disorders and the prevalence of both disorders decreased with increasing age. There were high rates of comorbidity between alcohol- and other drug-use disorders and mental disorders and low rates of treatment seeking.


CONCLUSIONS
Alcohol-use disorders are a major mental health and public health issue in Australia. Drug-use disorders are less common than alcohol-use disorders, but still affect a substantial minority of Australian adults. Treatment seeking among persons with alcohol- and other drug-use disorders is low. A range of public health strategies (including improved specialist treatment services) are needed to reduce the prevalence of these disorders.
Teesson
M
M
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. m.teesson@unsw.edu.au
Hall
W
W
Lynskey
M
M
Degenhardt
L
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires