Alcohol health literacy in young adults with type 1 diabetes and its impact on diabetes management.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the knowledge of alcohol and carbohydrate content of commonly consumed alcoholic drinks among young adults with Type 1 diabetes and to explore alcohol consumption while identifying diabetes self-management strategies used to minimize alcohol-associated risk.


METHODS
We conducted an open-access, multiple-choice web survey to investigate knowledge of alcohol and carbohydrate content of typical alcoholic drinks using images. Respondents to the survey also recorded their current alcohol consumption and diabetes self-management strategies when drinking.


RESULTS
A total of 547 people aged 18-30 years responded to the survey (341 women; 192 men; mean (sd) age 24.5 (3.7) years), of whom 365 (66.7%) drank alcohol. In all, 84 (32.9%) women and 31 (22.6%) men scored higher than the cut-off score for increased-risk drinking. Knowledge accuracy of alcohol units was poor: only 7.3% (n = 40) correctly identified the alcohol content of six or more out of 10 drinks. Knowledge of carbohydrate content was also poor: no respondent correctly identified the carbohydrate content of six or more out of 10 drinks. Various and inconsistent strategies to minimize alcohol-associated risk were reported.


CONCLUSIONS
Alcohol consumption was common among the survey respondents, but knowledge of alcohol and carbohydrate content was poor. Greater alcohol-related health literacy is required to minimize alcohol-associated risk. Further research should help develop effective strategies to improve health literacy and support safe drinking for young adults with Type 1 diabetes.
Human Development and Health Academic Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
K D
KD
Barnard
P
P
Dyson
J M A
JM
Sinclair
J
J
Lawton
D
D
Anthony
M
M
Cranston
R I G
RI
Holt
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000628:therapy*; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D019468:Disease Management; D000431:Ethanol; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D057220:Health Literacy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012648:Self Care; D055815:Young Adult
D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D000431:Ethanol