Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

T his study aims to estimate the prevalence of hazardous drinking in a representative community sample of Seoul, Korea and to investigate the sociodemographic and psychological factors associated with hazardous drinking. Sociodemographic data, scores for AUDIT-K and other psychological screening instruments were collected from a sample of 798 individuals living in one of municipal areas of Seoul. Recruitment was done based on a stratified-multistage-cluster sampling. The prevalence of hazardous drinking was in 32.7% (males 51.5% and females 18.5%). Considering the sample as a whole, multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the risk factors of hazardous drinking were male (adjusted OR=5.41, 95% CI 3.65-8.04), young age (18-29 years old, adjusted OR=3.25, 95% CI 1.53-6.92), high stress level (adjusted OR=1.76, 95% CI 1.23- 2.54) and low resilience (adjusted OR=1.46, 95% CI 1.01-2.12). Among males, being widowed/separated/divorced (adjusted OR=4.57, 95% CI 1.17-17.87) and high stress level (adjusted OR=1.63, 95% CI 1.01-2.63) were significant risk factors for hazardous drinking. For females, young age (adjusted OR=7.53, 95% CI 2.43-23.33), high stress level (adjusted OR=2.01, 95% CI 1.12-3.61) and low resilience (adjusted OR=2.01, 95% CI 1.12-3.61) were risk factors for hazardous drinking. In conclusion, the prevalence of hazardous drinking of Seoul in this study was demonstrated to be one of the highest in the world. Our results also suggested that hazardous drinking was associated more with sociodemographic factors than with psychological factors. Preventive measures and intervention programs should be tailored to males, young females and people with stressful life events to reduce the problematic drinking in the community

Biography

Hae Kook is working as an Associate Professor in The Catholic University of Korea, and also working in affiliated hospital as a psychiatrist. He stayed at NIAAA as a visiting researcher from 2008-2010.