Drinking in the Commonwealth of Independent States-evidence from eight countries

ABSTRACT Aims To describe the frequency of alcohol consumption and beverage preferences in eight countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Design Cross‐sectional. Setting Populations of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Addiction (Abingdon, England) England), 2005-11, Vol.100 (11), p.1647-1668
Main Authors:	Pomerleau, Joceline, McKee, Martin, Rose, Richard, Haerpfer, Christian W., Rotman, David, Tumanov, Sergej
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Addiction Adolescent Adult Age Distribution Aged Alcohol Alcohol consumption Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology Alcohol related problems Alcoholic Beverages Alcoholic Beverages - statistics & numerical data Alcoholism Armenia Belarus Beverages C.I.S Commonwealth of Independent States Commonwealth of Independent States - epidemiology Cross-national analysis Cross-sectional analysis Cross-Sectional Studies Crosscultural Differences Crossnational studies Drinking Behavior drinking pattern Drinking patterns Female former Soviet Union Georgia Health Humans Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Male Middle Aged Moldova Questionnaires Regression analysis Russian Federation Sample surveys Sex Distribution Social problems survey Survey analysis Temperance - statistics & numerical data Ukraine
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Summary:	ABSTRACT Aims To describe the frequency of alcohol consumption and beverage preferences in eight countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Design Cross‐sectional. Setting Populations of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation and Ukraine. Participants Representative samples of the adult population of each country (overall sample size 18,428; response rates: 71–88%). Measurements A standardised questionnaire was administered by trained interviewers to examine alcohol consumption frequency and usual intakes of beer, wine and strong spirits. Findings Between 11 and 34% of males and 26–71% of females reported never drinking alcohol. Abstention was lowest in the Russian Federation and Belarus, two traditional spirits‐drinking countries. It was particularly high in Kyrgyzstan and Georgia, two countries with a relatively low frequency of alcohol consumption but large amounts consumed per occasion (particularly Georgia). On the contrary, Moldovan respondents drank frequently, but consumed smaller amounts per occasion. As expected, spirits were consumed in largest amounts in traditional spirits‐drinking countries, as well as Armenia and wine in traditional wine‐drinking countries. Beer consumption was relatively high in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan (males), particularly in young respondents. Conclusions Although cross‐country comparisons of alcohol intake should be interpreted cautiously, this study suggested that drinking patterns in the countries examined are not entirely typical of usual dry/wet drinking cultures, and confirms that the CIS is very diverse in terms of drinking patterns and beverage preferences. The study provides an important baseline for future comparisons as markets open to new products, as has been the case elsewhere in Europe.
ISSN:	0965-2140 1360-0443