title: Alcohol-related dysfunction in working-age men in Izhevsk, Russia: an application of structural equation models to study the association with education.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acute alcohol-related dysfunctional behaviours, such as hangover, are predictive of poor health and mortality. Although much is known about the association of education with alcohol consumption, little is known about its association with these dysfunctional behaviours.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population was 1,705 male drinkers aged 25-54 years resident in the city of Izhevsk, Russia who participated in a cross-sectional survey (2003-6). Structural equation modelling was used to examine the relationships between education, beverage and non-beverage alcohol intake, drinking patterns, and acute alcohol-related dysfunction score among these drinkers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dysfunction was related to all other drinking variables, with the strongest predictors being spirit intake, non-beverage alcohol consumption and drinking patterns. There was a strong relationship between education and acute dysfunction which was not explained by adjusting for alcohol intake and drinking patterns (mean adjusted dysfunction score 0.35 SD (95% CI 0.10, 0.61) lower in men with higher versus secondary education).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although by definition one or more aspects of alcohol consumption should explain the educational differences in alcohol-related dysfunction, detailed information on drinking only partly accounted for the observed patterns. Thus beyond their intrinsic interest, these results illustrate the challenges in constructing statistical models that convincingly identify the pathways that link educational differences to health-related outcomes.
authors.affiliation: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom. sarah.cook@lshtm.ac.uk
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Leon
authors.forename: Nikolay
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kiryanov
authors.forename: George B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Ploubidis
authors.forename: Bianca L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: De Stavola
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004522:Educational Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D012426:Russia / Q000453:epidemiology