Abstract
BackgroundAggregated measures are often employed when prevalence, risk factors and consequences of alcohol use in the population are monitored. In order to avoid time-dependent bias in aggregated measures, reference periods which assess alcohol use over longer time-periods or measures assessing typical alcohol use are considered superior to reference periods assessing recent or current alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption in the population is found to vary through the months of the year, but it is not known whether monthly variations in actual alcohol use affects self-reports of long-term or typical alcohol consumption. Using data from a large, population-based study with data-collection over two years, the aim of the present study was to examine whether self-reported measures of alcohol use with different reference periods fluctuated across the months of the year.MethodsParticipants in the third wave of the Nord-Trøndelag Health Survey (HUNT3) answered questions regarding alcohol use in the last 4 weeks, weekly alcohol consumption last twelve months, typical weekly binge drinking and typical number of alcoholic drinks consumed in a 14 day period. For each of the alcohol measures, monthly variations in reporting were estimated and compared to the overall average.ResultsMonthly variations in self-reported alcohol use were found across all alcohol measures regardless of reference period. A general tendency was found for highest level of alcohol use being reported during the summer season, however, the highest number of individuals who reported alcohol use in the last 4 weeks was found in January. Women reported substantially larger increase in weekly binge drinking during the summer months than men.ConclusionsSelf-reports of alcohol use over longer time and typical alcohol use varies according to the month the respondents are assessed. Monthly variations should therefore be taken into account when designing, analyzing and interpreting data from population-based studies aimed to examine descriptive and analytical characteristics of alcohol use in the population.
Highlights
Aggregated measures are often employed when prevalence, risk factors and consequences of alcohol use in the population are monitored
We aimed to examine whether a monthly variation in reporting of alcohol consumption differed according to the framing of the reference period, namely whether a monthly variation could be found regardless of whether the reference period indicated a specified time-frame, or whether the respondents were asked to report on their typical alcohol consumption, with no specified reference period indicated
All of the alcohol measures based on self-report in HUNT3 fluctuated to some degree according to the month of year the assessment was conducted (See Table 1 and 2)
Summary
Aggregated measures are often employed when prevalence, risk factors and consequences of alcohol use in the population are monitored. Using data from a large, population-based study with data-collection over two years, the aim of the present study was to examine whether self-reported measures of alcohol use with different reference periods fluctuated across the months of the year. Knudsen and Skogen BMC Public Health (2015) 15:172 self-report data, the framing of the time period in which the respondents are asked to report their alcohol use (the reference period) is of importance. These reference periods vary widely between studies, ranging from the day before the assessment to the last 12 months. In some extensively used alcohol screening instruments, such as the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) [18,19], the questions are framed without a specified reference period and are assumed to measure the respondent’s typical alcohol use
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