Abstract
BackgroundMost studies on alcohol consumption carried out in Sri Lanka are limited to single/few provinces in the island. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence, patterns and correlates of alcohol consumption among a larger sample of adults in Sri Lanka.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted in seven of all nine provinces in Sri Lanka, between 2005 and 2006. A nationally representative sample of 5000 adults aged ≥18 years was selected using multi-stage random cluster sampling. Data of 4532 participants were collected using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Data analysis included chi-squared test, multiple logistic regression analysis and Spearman correlation using Stata/SE 10.0 (StataCorp LP., Texas, USA) software package.ResultsMales were 40%; mean age was 46.1 years (±15.1). The overall, urban and rural prevalence (95% CI) of current drinking was 23.7% (21.7 – 25.7), 29.5% (25.7 – 33.3) and 22.2% (19.8 – 24.7) respectively (p = 0.001). Current (M: 48.1%, F: 1.2%, p < 0.0001) and former (M: 21.4%, F: 0.7%, p < 0.0001) drinking was much higher in males. The highest prevalence of drinking in males (58.9%) and females (2.2%) was in the 30 – 39 and <20 year age groups respectively. Lowest prevalence in men (24.6%) and women (0%) was in the >70 years age-group. Hazardous drinking was seen in 5.2% of men and 0.02% of women. Male sex, urban living and current smoking correlated with both current and hazardous drinking. Lower level of education, and age >70 years positively correlated with hazardous drinking.ConclusionsAlcohol is predominantly a problem in Sri Lankan males. In males, both current and hazardous drinking positively correlated with urban living, white collar occupation, Burgher ethnicity and current smoking. Hazardous drinking positively correlated with lower level of education and older age. The data shown here are useful in planning interventions simultaneously targeting alcohol and tobacco.
Highlights
Most studies on alcohol consumption carried out in Sri Lanka are limited to single/few provinces in the island
This report is based on 4491 participants with complete data
Males were 40% (n = 1788) of the total sample and 17.7% of them were from the urban sector
Summary
Most studies on alcohol consumption carried out in Sri Lanka are limited to single/few provinces in the island. The Sri Lankan villagers had consumed ‘toddy’, a fermented beverage with low alcohol content for many centuries [9]. The use of alcoholic spirits became popular after Sri Lanka was colonized by the Europeans: starting with the Portuguese in 1505, followed by the Dutch and the English. This trend continued since gaining independence in 1948 [5,9]. The main licit alcoholic spirit is ‘Arrack’, a distilled beverage produced from coconut or sugar cane. Many low income groups consume illicit spirits which are called ‘Kasippu’ or ‘Moonshine’. Beer drinking has been gaining popularity especially among younger age groups [5]
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