Prevalence of and Potential Influencing Factors for Alcohol Dependence in Europe

Alcohol use disorders (AUDs), and alcohol dependence (AD) in particular, are prevalent and associated with a large burden of disability and mortality. The aim of this study was to estimate prevalence of AD in the European Union (EU), Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland for the year 2010, and to investi...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:European Addiction Research
Main Authors: Rehm, Jürgen, Anderson, Peter, Barry, Joe, Dimitrov, Plamen, Elekes, Zsuzsanna, Feijão, Fernanda, Frick, Ulrich, Gual, Antoni, Gmel, Jr., Gerrit, Kraus, Ludwig, Marmet, Simon, Raninen, Jonas, Rehm, Maximilien X., Scafato, Emanuele, Shield, Kevin D., Trapencieris, Marcis, Gmel, Gerhard
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: S. Karger AG 2014
Subjects:
Norway
Iceland
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000365284
https://www.karger.com/Article/Pdf/365284
Description
Summary:Alcohol use disorders (AUDs), and alcohol dependence (AD) in particular, are prevalent and associated with a large burden of disability and mortality. The aim of this study was to estimate prevalence of AD in the European Union (EU), Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland for the year 2010, and to investigate potential influencing factors. The 1-year prevalence of AD in the EU was estimated at 3.4% among people 18-64 years of age in Europe (women 1.7%, men 5.2%), resulting in close to 11 million affected people. Taking into account all people of all ages, AD, abuse and harmful use resulted in an estimate of 23 million affected people. Prevalence of AD varied widely between European countries, and was significantly impacted by drinking cultures and social norms. Correlations with level of drinking and other drinking variables and with major known outcomes of heavy drinking, such as liver cirrhosis or injury, were moderate. These results suggest a need to rethink the definition of AUDs.

Similar Items