Alcohol use in South Sudan in relation to social factors, mental distress and traumatic events.
Alcohol use is a major public health problem with vast implications for poor, war-torn countries. The objective of this study was to describe prevalence of alcohol use and risky drinking across socio-demographic factors in South Sudan, and to determine the association between risky drinking, traumatic events and mental distress.



This is a randomized, population based, cross-sectional study from the north-western part of South Sudan with nearly 500 participants. We used the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) as main outcome variable, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) for mental distress and five questions to assess traumatic events.



The mean AUDIT score was 2.7 (SD 0.3) with 14,2 % in the high risk problem drinking category. Being male, lack of a regular income and psychological distress were significantly associated with higher AUDIT score. Traumatic events, however, was not associated with higher score on AUDIT.



Despite decades of civil war and great poverty the alcohol use in this population was at the same level as other countries in Southern Africa. Traumatic events were not related to risk of problem drinking.
Department of Public Health, Hedmark University College, Elverum, Norway. lars.lien@sykehuset-innlandet.no.|National Advisory Board for Dual Diagnosis, Hospital Innlandet Trust, Box 104, 2381, Brumunddal, Norway. lars.lien@sykehuset-innlandet.no.
Lars
L
Lien
Department of Mental Health and Addiction, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Edvard
E
Hauff
Norwegian Center for Addiction Research, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Priscilla
P
Martinez
SINTEF Technology and Society, Oslo, Norway.
Arne H
AH
Eide
Department of Psychology, Alan J. Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa.
Leslie
L
Swarts
Department of Mental Health and Addiction, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Touraj
T
Ayazi
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012944:Social Support; D000068037:South Sudan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014857:Warfare; D055815:Young Adult
AUDIT; Alcohol; Distress; Poverty; Trauma