2. Objective
Obtain reliable prevalence rates on:
– Frequency and volume of drinking
– Harmful drinking patterns
– Harm from own drinking
– Harm from others’ drinking
3. Methodology
• Representative sample 4,843 respondents aged
18-64 years
• Fieldwork Oct 2010 – June 2011
• Response rate – 60%
• Demographics – gender, age, education, marital
status and social class
4. Frequency of drinking
• 87% (89% males, 85% females) were current drinkers
– Highest among females aged 18-24 years (94%)
– Lowest among females aged 50-64 years (79%)
• 31% of men and 21% of women consumed alcohol at
least twice weekly
5. Volume of drinking
• 24% consumed 1-2 standard drinks/drinking occasion
– Most common among adults aged 50-64 years (34%)
• 27% consumed 7+ standard drinks/drinking occasion
– Highest among males 18-24 years (60%) and 25-34 years (48%)
6. Harmful drinking patterns
• Risky Single Occasion Drinking (binge drinking)
• AUDIT-C screening tool
• RAPS – used to screen for dependence
7. Risky Single Occasion Drinking (RSOD)
• 45% of adults aged 18-64 engaged in RSOD at least
once per month in the year prior to the survey
• This corresponds to 52% of drinkers
– 64% of male drinkers
– 39% of female drinkers
• RSOD was most common among 18-24-year-olds (72%)
8. AUDIT-C screening tool
• 50% of adults aged 18-64 scored positive for harmful
drinking using the AUDIT-C screening tool
• This corresponds to 58% of drinkers
– 71% of male drinkers
– 44% of female drinkers
9. AUDIT-C: gender and age
75
62
54
48
82
76
67 65
68
48
40
29
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
18–24 25–34 35–49 50–64
%
Age group
All
Males
Females
10. RAPS screening tool
• 23% reported feelings of guilt or remorse
• 24% reported that friends/family told them about things
they said/did that they did not remember
• 12% reported that they failed to do what was normally
expected
• 2% reported that they needed a first drink in the morning
• Two or more positive scores (18%)
– 23% males, 14% females
• Three or more positive scores (7%)
11. RAPS screening tool: gender and age
43
23
11
7
47
31
15
11
40
16
8
3
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
18–24 25–34 35–49 50–64
%
Age group
All
Males
Females
12. Alcohol consumption by demographics
• Education and social class did not predict harmful
drinking patterns
• Single drinkers were more likely to drink in a harmful
manner than married drinkers of the same age
– 75% of single drinkers aged 18-34 years had a positive AUDIT-C
score compared with 54% of married/cohabiting drinkers of the
same age
13. Harm from own drinking
Six harms – harm to health, home life, work, friendships,
being involved in an accident or fight
• 20% experienced at least one of these harms as a result
of their drinking
– 26% males, 14% females
• 13% reported harm to health
– Most common among those aged 18-24 years (24%)
• Males aged 18-24 years were most likely to have been in
a fight (24%) or an accident (11%)
14. Harm from others’ drinking
Five harms – family and money problems, being assaulted,
being a passenger with a drunk driver, property vandalised
• 27% experienced harm as a result of someone else’s
drinking
• 14% reported family problems
– Most common among females aged 25-34 years (19%) and males
and females aged 18-24 years (18%)
15. Summary
• Most adults aged 18-64 years consumed alcohol with
older females most likely to abstain from alcohol
• According to the AUDIT-C screening tool the majority
of drinkers consumed alcohol in a harmful manner,
which is consistent with previous research
• Harmful drinking patterns were most common among
those aged 18-24 years
• Males were most likely to experience alcohol-related
harm from their and others’ drinking
Editor's Notes
75g of pure alcohol on a single drinking occasion. This corresponds to four pints of beer or seven pub measures of spirits or one 750ml bottle of wine. There is no definitive guidelines on what constitutes RSOD; for this survey 75g was used to denote RSOD as this is the definition which was used by the European Comparative Alcohol Study2 and has been used in a number of Irish drinking surveys. According to the European Commission, RSOD at least once a month in the previous year can be considered a harmful drinking pattern.