title: Estimation of Unrecorded Alcohol Consumption in Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Economies for 2010.
abstract: Consumption of unrecorded alcohol is prevalent, especially in low-income countries (LIC). Monitoring and reduction of unrecorded consumption have been asked for in the World Health Organization (WHO) global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. To date, only a few countries have installed monitoring systems, however.
  
  
  
  As part of the WHO global monitoring, an expert survey using the nominal group technique, a variant of Delphi studies, was conducted to assess level and characteristics of unrecorded consumption in 46 member states. One hundred experts responded. Descriptive statistics and repeated analysis of covariance were used to analyze the data.
  
  
  
  The study showed feasibility of the chosen methodology to elicit information of unrecorded consumption with experts responding for 74% of the countries. Response rate was lower for LIC. Compared to prior WHO estimates, experts tended to estimate higher unrecorded consumption for LIC, and lower unrecorded consumption for high-income countries. Unrecorded consumption was seen as a financial, public health, and social problem by the majority of experts. Homemade alcohol was the most prevalent subcategory of unrecorded consumption globally.
  
  
  
  The chosen methodology was feasible, and new information about consumption of unrecorded consumption could be gathered. There is still a need for increasing efforts of national monitoring, especially in LIC.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Ontario, Canada.|Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.|Institute of Medical Science (IMS), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.|Institute for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.|Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.|Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rehm
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Larsen
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Candace
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lewis-Laietmark
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gheorghe
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Poznyak
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Dag
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rekve
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fleischmann
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D014944:World Health Organization
keywords: Alcohol; Income Groupings; Monitoring; Nominal Group Technique; Unrecorded