title: Pre-deployment Alcohol Misuse Among Shipboard Active-Duty U.S. Military Personnel.
abstract: The burden of alcohol misuse is unknown among shipboard U.S. Navy and Marine Corps military personnel immediately prior to deployment and may be elevated.
  
  
  
  Anonymous survey data on hazardous, dependent, and binge alcohol misuse and involuntary drug consumption were collected during 2012-2014 among shipboard personnel within approximately 2 weeks of deployment. Using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test Consumption (AUDIT-C), hazardous alcohol misuse was defined using two cut-point scoring criteria: (1) ≥3 for women and ≥4 for men; and (2) ≥4 for women and ≥5 for men; binge drinking as ≥4 drinks for women and ≥5 drinks for men on a typical day in past 30 days; and dependent alcohol misuse as an AUDIT-C score of ≥8. Demographic- and sex-stratified self-reported alcohol misuse prevalence was reported for analysis conducted during 2014-2015.
  
  
  
  Among 2,351 male and female shipboard personnel, 39%-54% screened positive for hazardous, 27% for binge, and 15% for dependent alcohol use. Seven percent reported involuntary drug consumption history. A larger proportion of those aged 17-20 years screened positive for dependent alcohol use compared with the overall study population prevalence.
  
  
  
  A large proportion of shipboard personnel screened positive for hazardous and dependent alcohol use (18% among those aged <21 years) at deployment onset. These data can inform interventions targeting shipboard personnel engaging in hazardous use before progression to dependent use and enable early identification and care for dependent users. Future studies should include more comprehensive assessment of factors associated with involuntary drug consumption.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, Maryland; Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, California. Electronic address: judith.harbertson.ctr@mail.mil.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harbertson
authors.affiliation: Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, California; Department of Infectious Diseases, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
authors.forename: Braden R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Hale
authors.affiliation: Army Public Health Center (Provisional), Behavioral and Social Health Outcomes Program, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
authors.forename: Eren Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.affiliation: U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland.
authors.forename: Nelson L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Michael
authors.affiliation: U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland.
authors.forename: Paul T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Scott
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D063425:Binge Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology