Drinking histories of self-identified lifetime abstainers and occasional drinkers: findings from the 1958 British Birth Cohort Study.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the validity of retrospective items used to distinguish people who have rarely or never consumed alcohol.


METHODS
The 1958 British Birth Cohort Study has followed 9377 individuals until age 45. Previous drinking (at 16, 23, 33 and 42 years) was investigated for two groups of 45-year-old non-drinkers, those reporting never having consumed alcohol ('never drinkers', n = 143, 1.5%), and having only consumed very infrequently ('occasional-only drinkers', n = 1149, 12.3%).


RESULTS
67% of never drinkers previously reported drinking, 25% were past weekly/daily drinkers; 56% of occasional-only drinkers reported weekly/daily consumption. The validity of the retrospective items was progressively questionable when presumed to cover longer time periods.


CONCLUSIONS
Substantial measurement error was evident when identifying 'occasional-only' and 'never' drinkers using retrospective items covering the lifecourse. Researchers investigating potential health benefits associated with moderate drinking need to incorporate more sophisticated methods when identifying sub-groups of non-drinkers.
Caldwell
T M
TM
National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia. Tanya.Caldwell@anu.edu.au
Rodgers
B
B
Power
C
C
Clark
C
C
Stansfeld
S A
SA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012650:Self Disclosure; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013695:Temperance; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology