title: Alcohol habits in Sweden during 1997-2009 with particular focus on 2005 and 2009, assessed with the AUDIT: a repeated cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to survey the changes in alcohol habits during a period with the European Union legal practices.
  
  
  METHODS
  Alcohol habits in Sweden were surveyed in the general Swedish population at four timepoints, in 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2009, using the 10-item AUDIT questionnaire.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four separate randomly drawn cross-sectional samples of 1,250 individuals were surveyed at each timepoint.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An average of 70% of the sampled individuals responded to the AUDIT questionnaire. Men had higher total AUDIT scores than women in 2005 and 2009, but scores increased among women 61-71 years old and decreased among men 61-71 years old. Younger men and women 17-27 years old decreased their AUDIT-C consumption scores by almost 20% between 2005 and 2009. An analysis of problem drinkers (+8 for men/+6 for women) indicated that a larger proportion of elderly women drank moderately in 2009 compared with 2005, but fewer elderly women drank hazardously.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Earlier increases in drinking levels between 1997 and 2001 may reflect a latent high demand that was restricted by low availability. When availability due to European Union harmonization increased, alcohol consumption followed suit. After a period of adaptation, alcohol consumption appears to have stabilized.
authors.affiliation: Karolinska Institutet, Centre for Psychiatry Research, STAD Section, Stockholm, Sweden. hakan.kallmen@ki.se
authors.forename: Håkan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Källmén
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wennberg
authors.forename: Håkan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Leifman
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bergman
authors.forename: Anne H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Berman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology