[Nationwide survey of alcohol drinking and alcoholism among Japanese adults].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the characteristics of alcohol use among Japanese adults and prevalence of alcohol dependence in Japan, we conducted a nationwide survey on alcohol drinking behavior and alcohol dependence among Japanese adults using a representative sampling method.


METHODS
We sampled 3500 adults from throughout the entire country using a stratified random sampling method with two-step stratification, and carried out a home visit interview survey. A total of 2547 people (72.8%) responded to the survey. The survey period was June, 2003. The questionnaire contained questions about the frequency and quantity of alcohol use, 'hazardous use of alcohol' and 'alcohol dependence' according to the ICD-10 definition, several screening scales on problem use of alcohol (CAGE, KAST, AUDIT), life-time prevalence of 24 alcohol related diseases, smoking status, dysgryphia, and nightcap drinking.


RESULTS
The number of respondents was, 1184 males, and 1363 females. Lifetime alcohol drinking, and weekly drinking, and daily drinking rates were 95.1%, 64.4%, and 36.2% for males, 79.0%, 27.5%, and 7.5% for females, respectively. Average daily alcohol consumption was 3.7 units for males, and 2.0 units for females (1 unit = 10 g pure alcohol). The proportion of drinkers who drank alcohol 4 units or more daily was 28.9% for males, and 7.6% for females, and that for 6 units or more was 12.7% for males, and 3.4% for females. The proportion of flasher was 41.2% for males, and 35.0% for females. Among screening questions, problem drinking was most frequently identified using AUDIT (score 12 points or more, 150 persons), followed by KAST (2 points or more, 100 persons) and CAGE (2 points or more, 98 persons). The number of subjects who met the ICD-10 criteria for alcohol dependence was 24, while the number who engaged in hazardous alcohol use was 64.


CONCLUSIONS
This study revealed that problem drinking and alcohol dependence are a serious problem in Japanese general population. The problem of females drinking may be growing. The government should emphasize the prevention of alcohol drinking problems in adults and continue the conduct of nationwide prevalence surveys to monitor the problem.
Osaki
Yoneatsu
Y
Division of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Tottori University, 86 Nishimachi, Yonago, Tottori 683-8503, Japan.
Matsushita
Sachio
S
Shirasaka
Tomonobu
T
Hiro
Hisanori
H
Higuchi
Susumu
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011897:Random Allocation