Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the potential associations of binge drinking detected at the exit of nightclubs and risk behaviors and alcohol effects just after leaving the venue in a representative sample of Brazilian nightclub patrons according to sex. For this purpose, a portal survey study called Balada com Ciência was conducted in 2013 in the megacity of São Paulo, Brazil, using a two-stage cluster sampling survey design. Individual-level data were collected in 2422 subjects at the entrance and 1822 subjects at the exit of 31 nightclubs, and breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) was measured using a breathalyzer. The following day, 1222 patrons answered an online follow-up survey that included questions about risk behaviors and alcohol effects practiced just after leaving the nightclub. Weighted logistic regressions were used to analyze binge drinking associated with risk behaviors by sex. For both sexes, the most prevalent risk behaviors practiced after leaving a nightclub were drinking and driving (men=27.9%; women=20.4%), the use of illicit drugs (men=15.8%; women=9.4%) and risky sexual behavior (men=11.4%; women=6.8%). The practice of binge drinking increased the behavior of illicit drug use after leaving the nightclub by 2.54 times [95% CI: 1.26-5.09] among men who drank and increased the risk of an episode of new alcohol use by 5.80 times [95% CI: 1.50-22.44] among women who drank. Alcoholic blackouts were more prevalent among men [OR=8.92; 95% CI: 3.83-20.80] and women [OR= 5.31; 95% CI: 1.68-16.84] whose BrAC was equivalent to binge drinking compared with patrons with a lower BrAC. Public policies aiming to reduce patrons’ BrAC at the exit of nightclubs, such as staff training in responsible beverage service and legislation to prevent alcohol sales to drunk individuals, would be useful to protect patrons from the risk behaviors associated with binge drinking in nightclubs.
Highlights
Alcohol consumption is a well-known cause of morbidity, mortality and social damage around the world and is a major component of the global burden of disease, in the Americas and Europe [1, 2]
We note that exposure to risk behaviors among patrons is not limited to events within the venue and to events occurring after the departure of these establishments and appear to be associated with alcoholic consumption
These results suggest that public policy should provide more efforts at reducing alcoholic harm among nightclubs patrons, taking into account that the risk episodes may occur just after leaving the venue
Summary
Alcohol consumption is a well-known cause of morbidity, mortality and social damage around the world and is a major component of the global burden of disease, in the Americas and Europe [1, 2]. A standard pattern of risky consumption that has aroused international interest and only recently began to be investigated in Brazil is called "binge drinking" (BD) [5] or "heavy episodic drinking" [6] This pattern is usually characterized by the use of at least four doses of alcohol on a single occasion for women and five doses for men, which leads to an ethanol concentration in the blood of 0.08% or higher [7]. The BD definition is controversial and permeated by the conceptualization of conflicts, which are influenced by the culture of the use and pharmacokinetic aspects of alcohol [9, 10] These episodes of acute alcohol abuse have an influence on overall mortality and contribute to acute consequences, accidents [11] and violence [12], endangering the intoxicated and the community. BD is associated with higher rates of sexual abuse, suicide attempts, unprotected sex, unwanted pregnancies, alcohol overdose, falls, gastritis and pancreatitis [13]
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