title: The social location of heavy episodic alcohol consumption in the Victorian population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine heavy episodic drinking across demographic subgroups to identify where heavy episodic drinking is socially located in an Australian state.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional survey, 2483 adult Victorians using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing. Two measures of heavy drinking were used: (i) heavy episodic drinking-more than five standard drinks at least weekly; and (ii) typically heavy drinking-50% or more of all drinking occasions involving consumption of 5+ standard drinks. Associations between heavy episodic drinking and eight potential sociodemographic correlates (gender, age, education, income, marital status, ethnic origin, religion and geographical remoteness) were examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were few significant correlates of heavy episodic drinking apart from gender and age, once gender and age were controlled. Men were more likely to report heavy episodic drinking than women, but this was attenuated in the measure of typically heavy drinking, suggesting that women reporting heavy episodic drinking were more likely to typically drink that much when they drank. Younger people were more likely to report weekly heavy episodic drinking and more likely to report engaging in this pattern on at least half of their drinking occasions, and this was also true for those unmarried or in de facto relationships. Those of Asian background were less likely to report heavy drinking. In multivariate analysis, the remaining sociodemographic variables were largely unrelated to the drinking measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study clearly shows that the prevalence of heavy episodic drinking varies particularly across gender and age groups in Victoria. These variations appear to hold across key sociodemographic variables such as income and education.
authors.affiliation: Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre, Melbourne, Australia. sharonm@turningpoint.org.au
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matthews
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dietze
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Room
authors.forename: Tanya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chikritzhs
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jolley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D012931:Social Environment; D014739:Victoria / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult