Gender and alcohol consumption: patterns from the multinational GENACIS project.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate multinational patterns of gender- and age-specific alcohol consumption.


METHODS
Large general-population surveys of men's and women's drinking behavior (n's > 900) in 35 countries in 1997-2007 used a standardized questionnaire (25 countries) or measures comparable to those in the standardized questionnaire.


METHODS
Data from men and women in three age groups (18-34, 35-49, 50-65) showed the prevalence of drinkers, former drinkers, and lifetime abstainers; and the prevalence of high-frequency, high-volume, and heavy episodic drinking among current drinkers. Analyses examined gender ratios for prevalence rates and the direction of changes in prevalence rates across age groups.


RESULTS
Drinking per se and high-volume drinking were consistently more prevalent among men than among women, but lifetime abstention from alcohol was consistently more prevalent among women. Among respondents who had ever been drinkers, women in all age groups were consistently more likely to have stopped drinking than men were. Among drinkers, the prevalence of high-frequency drinking was consistently greatest in the oldest age group, particularly among men. Unexpectedly, the prevalence of drinking per se did not decline consistently with increasing age, and declines in high-volume and heavy episodic drinking with increasing age were more typical in Europe and English-speaking countries.


CONCLUSIONS
As expected, men still exceed women in drinking and high-volume drinking, although gender ratios vary. Better explanations are needed for why more women than men quit drinking, and why aging does not consistently reduce drinking and heavy drinking outside Europe and English-speaking countries.
Wilsnack
Richard W
RW
Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences, 501 North Columbia Road Stop 9037, Grand Forks, ND 58202-9037, USA. rwilsnac@medicine.nodak.edu
Wilsnack
Sharon C
SC
Kristjanson
Arlinda F
AF
Vogeltanz-Holm
Nancy D
ND
Gmel
Gerhard
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
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