title: Differences in the prevalence rates and correlates of alcohol use and binge alcohol use among five Asian American subpopulations.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study (1) estimated the prevalence of alcohol and binge alcohol use among adult Asian Americans by sub-ethnicity; (2) examined alcohol drinking patterns among these subpopulations; and (3) investigated sub-ethnic differences in characteristics associated with alcohol and binge alcohol use.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from 8900 Asian Americans aged 18 or older who participated in the 2002-2008 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUHs) were analyzed. Descriptive analyses and multivariate logistic regression modeling were applied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Korean Americans (51.8%) and Japanese Americans (49.7%) reported higher rates of past-month alcohol use than Chinese Americans (42.0%), Filipino Americans (37.9%), and Asian Indian Americans (34.0%). Korean Americans (24.6%) reported the highest rate of past-month binge alcohol use, followed by Filipino Americans (14.5%), Japanese Americans (14.2%), Asian Indian Americans (10.1%), and Chinese Americans (8.1%). Among these examined Asian Americans, foreign-born Chinese, Filipino, and Asian Indian Americans were less likely to have past-month alcohol use than their corresponding U.S. born counterparts; and only foreign-born Asian Indian Americans were less likely to have past-month binge alcohol use than their U.S. born counterparts. Males were 3-5 times more likely to have binge alcohol use than females among examined Asian American subpopulations except for Korean Americans. Korean Americans were more likely to have binge alcohol use than the other examined sub-ethnic Asian Americans.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adult Asian Americans are heterogeneous in sociodemographic characteristics and alcohol and binge alcohol use. These differences suggest the need for sub-ethnically specific prevention and treatment programs for alcohol use problems among Asian American subpopulations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Catholic University of Korea, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hae Kook
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Joseph C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Gfroerer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000208:ethnology*; D001213:Asian / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D063425:Binge Drinking / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult