title: Individual patterns of alcohol use.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We present methodology to identify statistically distinct patterns of daily alcohol use and classify them into categories that could be further used in monitoring of transitions between patterns such as transitions from regular to problem use.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study analyzed individual patterns of adult alcohol consumption from two datasets containing short (<6 month) and long (up to 2years) daily records of drinking. These data were collected over the period between 1999 and 2003.
  
  
  RESULTS
  By using a non-parametric (Kolmogorov-Smirnov) test we have identified distinct drinking patterns and classified them into 8 types according to their means, percentages of non-drinking days and variances of consumed amount during drinking days. For each studied individual we calculated a transition chart that characterizes transitions between the types.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Individual daily consumption patterns can be identified, and classified into distinct patterns. Changes between the patterns could be related to life events or environmental trends, and thus provide insights into pathways towards either heavier use or recovery.
authors.affiliation: RTI International, Durham, NC 27709, United States.
authors.forename: Georgiy V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Bobashev
authors.affiliation: RTI International, Durham, NC 27709, United States.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: RTI International, Durham, NC 27709, United States.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hampton
authors.affiliation: University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, United States.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Helzer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014707:Vermont / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Daily alcohol use; Drinking patterns; Interactive voice response; Types of use