Incidence of first onset alcohol use disorder: a 16-year follow-up in the Taiwanese aborigines.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the incidence and cumulative risk of first onset alcohol use disorder (AUD) in a 16-year follow-up among Taiwanese aboriginal populations.


METHODS
Participants included in this study were cohort subjects free from any AUD at phase 1 survey (n = 428 for DSM-3-R and 451 for DSM-4) of the Taiwan aboriginal study project conducted in 1986-1988. They were reassessed approximately 16 years later, with a response rate of 98.8 %. A Chinese version of the WHO schedules for clinical assessment in neuropsychiatry was employed to assess the lifetime drinking history and AUD.


RESULTS
Age-standardized annual incidence rates of AUD in all groups were 2.26 and 1.75 % according to DSM-3-R and DSM-4, respectively. The overall incidence rates of AUD were comparable to most of other studies in Caucasian populations, but the sex ratios of women to men were higher in this study (1:2-3) than in the latter (1:6). The incidence of AUD was higher with DSM-3-R than with DSM-4 criteria in this study, attributable to the exclusion of physical/psychological harm in DSM-4 alcohol abuse. The cumulative risks of DSM-4 AUD in this study were very high, being 72.2 ± 19.8 for men and 48.7 ± 8.2 for women up to the age of 65 years.


CONCLUSIONS
High incidence rates and cumulative risks of AUD in Taiwanese aborigines demand effective prevention strategy.
Department of Psychiatry, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Chau-Shoun
CS
Lee
Shu-Fen
SF
Liao
I-Chao
IC
Liu
Wen-Chung
WC
Lee
Andrew T A
AT
Cheng
D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058027:Neuropsychiatry; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology