Abstract
We present the results of a study conducted in the province of Grodno, Belarus in 2012 that examined alcohol use and hazardous drinking-binge drinking and illicit alcohol consumption-among the rural population. Information was obtained from 502 respondents (253 men and 249 women) aged 18-70 years using a structured interview. Binge drinking was widespread among men, and also common among women: 78.8% of men and 36.1% of women reported drinking an equivalent of 150 ml of vodka or more at one sitting. The most frequently used illicit alcoholic beverage was samogon, which was consumed by 79.5% of men and 42.3% of women. In addition, 10.3% of men and 1.5% of women consumed alcohol surrogates, most commonly, industrial alcohol and alcohol-containing medicinal preparations. These results highlight the high level of hazardous drinking in the Belarusian countryside and emphasize the need for a comprehensive alcohol policy in this setting.
Highlights
Alcohol has been suggested to be a crucial factor in the mortality crisis that occurred in Belarus in the post-Soviet years [1,2]
Increased alcohol-related mortality observed both in Belarus and other Slavic countries of the Former Soviet Union has been linked to high overall alcohol consumption, a preference for spirits, binge drinking, as well as consumption of noncommercial alcohol [3]
Alcoholism became endemic in the countryside in the post-Soviet ‘transition period’, in part, due to the collapse of customs and traditions regulating drinking [5], while episodic heavy drinking of spirits and consumption of alcohol surrogates have been linked to excess mortality from acute alcohol poisonings and cardiovascular disease in this setting [3]
Summary
Alcohol has been suggested to be a crucial factor in the mortality crisis that occurred in Belarus in the post-Soviet years [1,2]. The poor quality of rural life that was characterized by shortages of consumer goods, few amenities, or entertainment possibilities in the decades that followed World War II acted as an incentive for people to leave the countryside [4] This process of population loss continued across the later-Soviet and post-Soviet years with the share of the rural population falling from 42% in 1981 to 34% in 1990 and just 25% in 2010 [6]. The propensity of young women to migrate to cities to seek opportunities unavailable in the countryside [8] has resulted in an imbalance in the population structure in rural areas with an excess of working-age men (aged 15-59) [9] This may have acted to intensify the consumption of alcohol given that habitual drinking is regarded as normative lifestyle behavior for men [10], and is a central element in the construction of masculinity in this region [11]. Research from neighboring Russia has indicated for example, that limited financial resources may increase consumption of surrogate alcohols [12] while economic problems have been linked to male heavy drinking [13,14]
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