How do quantities drunk per drinking day and the frequencies of drinking those quantities contribute to self-reported harm and positive consequences?
OBJECTIVE
This article examines how quantities drunk per drinking day (dose) and the frequency of drinking those quantities affect self-reported harm and positive consequences at the individual and population level.


METHODS
Participants were drinkers in a general population survey among Finns aged 15-69 years, conducted in 2000 (N = 1760, response rate 78%). Types of harm examined were self-reported worries over drinking control, negative consequences of individual drinking occasions, and external reactions to drinking.


RESULTS
Respondents who reported frequent drinking at very high doses (13 drinks and above for men, 8 and above for women) were in a league of their own with respect to the risk of harm. At the population level, the dose of 8-12 drinks accounted for most problems among men, and doses of 5-7 and 3-4 drinks among women. No gain in positive consequences was attached to drinking beyond the dose of 5-7 drinks among men and 3-4 drinks among women.


CONCLUSIONS
The dose level at which the population-level risk was the highest was lower than the level at which the individual-level risk was the highest, due to a greater prevalence of drinking the lesser quantities. Future studies should pay more attention to the separate effects of dose as well as the frequency of drinking the particular doses per occasion at the individual level, and also, as to how the prevalence of these drinking patterns contributes to the population-level risk.
Mäkelä
Pia
P
STAKES, 00531 Helsinki, Finland. pia.makela@stakes.fi
Mustonen
Heli
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000009:adverse effects; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept; D013997:Time Factors
D000431:Ethanol