Epidemiological features of alcohol use in rural India: a population-based cross-sectional study

This paper examines the proportion of adults in Sehore District who consume alcohol and who had alcohol use disorders behaviours

Abstract

In this population-based cross-sectional study the authors sought to estimate the proportion of adults in Sehore District, India, who consumed alcohol, and the proportion who had behaviours consistent with alcohol use disorders (AUDs), using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Among men who drank, they identified individual-level, household-level and community-level factors associated with AUDIT scores. Men with AUDs (AUDIT score ≥8) reported on whether and where they had sought treatment, and about alcohol-related internal stigma. The setting for the study was rural villages and urban wards in Sehore District, Madhya Pradesh, India.

The study concluded that a need exists for effectively identifying and treating adults with AUDs. Health promotion services, informed by commonly-expressed stigmatised beliefs held among those affected by AUDs and which are targeted at the most affected communities, may be an effective step in closing the treatment gap.

This research is supported by the Department for International Development’s Programme for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME) which is led by University of Cape Town

Citation

Rathod, S.D.; Nadkarni, A.; Bhana, A.; Shidhaye, R. Epidemiological features of alcohol use in rural India: a population-based cross-sectional study. BMJ Open (2015) 5 (12) e009802. [DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009802]

Epidemiological features of alcohol use in rural India: a population-based cross-sectional study

Published 1 January 2015