title: Prevalence of and potential influencing factors for alcohol dependence in Europe.
abstract: Alcohol use disorders (AUDs), and alcohol dependence (AD) in particular, are prevalent and associated with a large burden of disability and mortality. The aim of this study was to estimate prevalence of AD in the European Union (EU), Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland for the year 2010, and to investigate potential influencing factors. The 1-year prevalence of AD in the EU was estimated at 3.4% among people 18-64 years of age in Europe (women 1.7%, men 5.2%), resulting in close to 11 million affected people. Taking into account all people of all ages, AD, abuse and harmful use resulted in an estimate of 23 million affected people. Prevalence of AD varied widely between European countries, and was significantly impacted by drinking cultures and social norms. Correlations with level of drinking and other drinking variables and with major known outcomes of heavy drinking, such as liver cirrhosis or injury, were moderate. These results suggest a need to rethink the definition of AUDs.
authors.affiliation: Social and Epidemiological Research (SER) Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ont., Canada.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rehm
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Joe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barry
authors.forename: Plamen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dimitrov
authors.forename: Zsuzsanna
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Elekes
authors.forename: Fernanda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Feijão
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Frick
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gual
authors.forename: Gerrit
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gmel
authors.forename: Ludwig
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kraus
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marmet
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Raninen
authors.forename: Maximilien X
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Rehm
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scafato
authors.forename: Kevin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Shield
authors.forename: Marcis
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trapencieris
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gmel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D059066:Gross Domestic Product / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008104:Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D066262:Social Norms; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000401:mortality*; D055815:Young Adult