中国2012年18~59岁就业流动人口饮酒现状分析

目的 了解我国18~59岁就业流动人口的饮酒行为和模式。方法 2012年在全国31个省(自治区、直辖市)和新疆生产建设兵团的170个县(区、团),按行业分层多阶段整群抽取≥18岁流动人口作为样本,分析流动人口调查前12个月饮酒状况。结果 共有48 697名样本人群纳入分析。调查前12个月饮酒率为51.7%(男性为71.9%,女性为24.7%)。饮酒者中男性每周饮酒率和日均酒精摄入量分别为53.9%和18.7 g,女性分别为16.7%和4.1 g。饮酒者每周饮酒率随年龄增加而升高(P<0.01),随文化程度提高而降低(P<0.01)。男性饮酒者日均酒精摄入量随年龄增加而升高(P<0.01),随文化程度提高而降低(P<0.01)。过量饮酒、危险饮酒和有害饮酒流行率在男性饮酒者中分别为23.6%、6.6%和6.9%,在女性饮酒者中分别为6.3%、2.3%和1.5%。在男性饮酒者中,过量饮酒、危险饮酒和有害饮酒流行率均随年龄增加而上升(P<0.01),随文化程度提高而降低(P<0.01)。男性和女性饮酒者过去12个月发生豪饮行为的比例分别为71.2%和33.1%。在男性饮酒者中,豪饮行为的频率分布在不同年龄、文化程度及行业间的差异有统计学意义(均P<0.01)。各行业中,从事建筑业的男性饮酒者每周饮酒率、日均酒精摄入量、过量饮酒、有害饮酒和豪饮流行率均为最高。结论 我国流动人口饮酒行为普遍,性别差别较大;不良饮酒行为在男性饮酒者中存在明显的年龄、文化程度和行业差异。     

Alcohol consumption and heavy drinking: a survey in three Italian villages

Aims: We investigated drinking habits, and heavy and problemdrinking prevalence in a sample of individuals attending theconsulting rooms of local General Practitioners in three Italianvillages. Methods: The samples were selected to be representativeof the entire population of the three villages. Informationon alcohol-drinking patterns was collected using a questionnairethat included a masked form of the CAGE rating scale. Accordingto the frequency of alcohol intake, subjects were grouped inthree categories: abstainers, occasional drinkers, and dailydrinkers. In agreement with WHO guidelines, 40 g/day for malesand 20 g/day for females were taken as cut-off for ‘heavydrinking’ and consumptions of >80 g/day for males and40 g/day for females were used to define ‘problem drinking’.Results: A total of 2972 individuals were included in the survey(19% of the population). Of these, 44% were abstinent, 20% occasionaldrinkers, and 36% daily drinkers. Daily drinking was found tobe more common in males than in females but heavy drinking wassignificantly higher in females compared with males (P 0.0001).The problem drinkers were 12% of the entire population and theCAGE-positive subjects (2 positive answers) were 3.5%. Conclusions:Our data indicate that alcohol drinking is widely diffused inthe three communities. A large layer of the population drinksabove the WHO-established cut-off. The incidence of heavy andproblem drinking seems to have significant gender and regionaldifferences that are important to consider when planning effectiveprevention programmes.     

2010年上海市15岁及以上居民饮酒行为研究

目的 研究2010年上海市15岁及以上居民饮酒行为现状.方法 采用分层多阶段整群随机抽样的方法,利用2010年“上海市慢性病及其危险因素监测”部分资料,研究上海市15岁及以上居民饮酒现状、饮酒频率、饮酒类型、每日酒精消费量及分级.结果 15岁及以上居民饮酒率为26.1％,男性为43.9％,女性为8.0％.饮酒者中酒精摄入量为34.3 g/d,男性为37.7 g/d,女性为14.9 g/d.不同年龄组中,男性45 ～ 59岁年龄组饮酒率和每日酒精摄入量最高（53.9％和42.6 g/d）,女性18～44岁年龄组饮酒率最高为9.6％,45 ～ 59岁年龄组酒精摄入量最高为16.5 g/d;中心城区和非中心城区的饮酒率分别为22.9％和28.5％,酒精摄入量分别为28.5g/d和37.8 g/d.男性饮酒者中,饮酒频率以几乎每天饮酒的比例最高（35.5％）,3～6d/周的比例最低（13.0％）;饮酒类型中,以饮黄酒、啤酒为主,比例为62.0％和42.8％,饮低度白酒的比例最低为9.8％;过量饮酒、危险饮酒和有害饮酒的比例分别为20.0％、9.2％和20.6％,单次大量饮酒比例为24.6％.结论 2010年上海地区15岁及以上居民饮酒率较高,不同性别、年龄和地区间饮酒行为存在差异.     

Hazardous alcohol drinking in the former Soviet Union: a cross-sectional study of eight countries

BACKGROUND: Hazardous consumption of large quantities of alcohol is a major cause of ill-health in the former Soviet Union (fSU). The objective of this study was to describe episodic heavy drinking and other hazardous drinking behaviors in eight countries of the fSU. METHODS: Data from national surveys of adults conducted in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine in 2001 were used (overall sample size 18,428; response rates 71-88%). Heavy episodic drinking, high alcohol intake, drinking alcohol during the working day, and using illegally produced strong spirits were examined. RESULTS: On average, 23% of men and 2% of women were defined as heavy episodic drinkers (> or = 2 l of beer or > or = 750 g bottle of wine or > or = 200 g strong spirits at least once every 2-3 weeks). This was more common in young males, women who are single or who are divorced/separated/widowed, in smokers, and in frequent alcohol drinkers. About half the respondents who drank strong spirits obtained at least some alcohol from private sources. Among drinkers, 11% of males and 7% of women usually took their first drink before the end of working day. CONCLUSIONS: Heavy episodic alcohol drinking is frequent in males throughout the region--although prevalence rates may have been affected by underreporting--but is still relatively rare in women. Alcohol policies in the region should address hazardous drinking patterns and the common use of illegally produced alcohol.     

Prevalence and mortality of heavy drinkers in a general medical hospital unit

This study was performed in order to analyse the prevalence, clinical characteristics and mortality of heavy drinkers among hospitalized patients during a 2-year period. Chronic excessive alcohol consumption (daily intake >80 g of ethanol for males and >40 g for females) was found in 278 of 2913 hospital admissions and was strongly associated with the male sex (90.69%). Heavy drinkers were significantly younger than other admissions (15 and 10 years for men and women, respectively), but showed similar mortality rates to other admissions, despite a much earlier age at death (19.5 years for men and 22 years for women). There was a trend towards higher mortality rates among severe alcoholic women than severe alcoholic men and non-alcoholic women. Liver cirrhosis was the entity most frequently observed in the heavy drinkers, and was significantly more prevalent in alcoholic women.     

Hazardous alcohol use among hospital doctors in Germany

AIMS: To describe alcohol use, and the prevalence and predictors of hazardous drinking, among hospital doctors. METHODS: Data were collected by anonymous mail survey in 2006, from a representative national sample of 1917 (58% response rate) hospital doctors in Germany. Alcohol use was measured using the AUDIT-C, scores of 5 or more for males and females indicating "hazardous drinking." RESULTS: There were 9.5% abstainers, 70.7% moderate drinkers, and 19.8% hazardous drinkers. The majority of doctors (90.5%) used alcohol--mainly at a sensible level, e.g., 2-4 times a month (32%) or 2-3 times a week (29%), and 1-2 glasses on one occasion (83%). Binge drinking was common (53%), but for most occurred less than once in a month (39%). When hazardous drinking was controlled for certain confounders, being male (OR 4.7; 95% CI 3.4-6.5) and having a surgical specialty (OR 1.4; 1.1-1.8) were significantly correlated to hazardous drinking. Age had no influence on this model. By contrast, the age group 40 years and younger (OR 2.1; 1.4-3.0) was a significant predictor of abstinence. CONCLUSIONS: There is a higher rate of abstainers and a lower rate of binge drinkers among hospital doctors in Germany than in the general population. However, some hospital doctors drink hazardously, the risk being greater among males and among surgeons, which should be paid due attention in the interest of their health and their function as doctors.     

Red blood cell deformability in relation to gender,age, blood pressure,obesity, serum lipids,alcohol consumption and smoking

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of environmental factors on abnormalities in red blood cell deformability (RBCD), which may play an important role in the development of cardiovascular diseases, a cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted in healthy subjects. METHOD: The subjects were 350 males (mean age 52.7 +/- 10.3 SD) and 364 females (52.6 +/- 10.4) who participated in a health check program in the town of Akabane, Japan, in 1995-1998. Blood and serum were obtained to determine the values of RBCD and TP, TG, TCHOL, and HDLC. The inverse of RBCD (RBCDI, ms-1) was used as an indicator of RBCD. The subjects were also investigated for drinking and smoking habits, BMI, and SBP. Males and females were stratified into tertiles for each variable except drinking and smoking. For those exceptions, male subjects were stratified into three groups according to alcohol consumption (non-drinkers, moderate drinkers (up to 27 ml pure ethanol per day), and habitual drinkers (28 ml or more per day)) and according to tobacco use (non-smokers, mild smokers (equal or fewer than 20 cigarettes per day), and heavy smokers, (more than 20)). Each stratum was further divided into two groups according to age (younger, < 50 years; older, > or = 50 years). RESULTS: The mean value of RBCDI was significantly higher in males (1.041 +/- 0.135 SD) than in females (1.013 +/- 0.113). RBCDI declined with age in both genders. In analyses of variance, the averages of RBCDI decreased as TP increased in all ages and in both genders and as TCHOL increased in older males. With regard to alcohol consumption, the averages of RBCDI were the highest in moderate drinkers in younger males. Multiple linear regression analyses showed negative correlations between RBCDI values and age, TP or TCHOL values, and showed positive correlations between RBCDI values and BMI in males as well as negative correlations between RBCDI values and age and TP in females. When alcohol drinking was entered into the model, the statistical significance between TCHOL and RBCDI disappeared in males. No apparent relations between smoking habit and levels of SBP and TG to RBCDI were found. CONCLUSIONS: RBCDI was higher in males than in females and higher in the younger group than in the older group. This study suggested that TCHOL may lower RBCDI and moderate drinking may improve it. Further epidemiological study is required to clarify these relationships.     

PATTERNS OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AMONG THE GENERAL POPULATION OF CASTILE AND LEON (SPAIN

A total of 2500 individuals, aged 14–70, who live in Castileand Leon (Spain), were surveyed in the spring of 1989 with regardto their alcohol consumption and its patterns. Among those surveyed26.2% were 'daily' drinkers and 66.0% ‘weekly’ drinkers.Differences of alcohol use (frequency) and intake were reviewedwith regard to sociodemographic factors such as gender, age,and marital status. Beer (52.6%) was the favourite drink, withwine (20.6%) the second most commonly consumed alcohol beverage.Most of those surveyed (54.6%) were ‘light’ drinkers(1–39 g/day of pure alcohol), while 3.0% had an intakeof over 80 g/day (‘heavy’ drinkers). The averageage at which they started drinking was 16 2 years The resultsallow a better understanding of the pattern of alcohol consumptionin Spain.     

Level of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin according to age and gender in the Hungarian population

The quantity of usual alcohol consumption is a concrete date which can be determined at the anamnesis of patients according to the patient-doctor discussion. In many cases the patients do not inform the doctors in details, in some cases they do want to take it in secret. In these cases the carbohydrate-deficient transferrin can be the most reliable indicator. AIM OF THE STUDY: Determination of the concentration of CDT in healthy population. METHODS: The authors carried out their investigations in a small Hungarian town (Enese). 409 individuals (mean age: 49.7 years) were involved in the trial. Among them 204 men (mean age: 49.3) and 205 women (mean age: 50.3 years) were found. The persons were divided into two parts: 1. those who do not drink alcoholic beverages at all or only in small quantities (< 40 g/day) and 2. those who drink about 40-60 g alcohol/day, as so-called social drinkers. The quantity of CDT was measured by turbidimetric methods with Roche/Hitachi Modular P 912 automatic equipment (Roche, USA). RESULTS: The values of CDT increased with the age of persons in parallel, it was significantly higher in the individuals with the age of 45-65 than in those below 25 years. In female persons under 45 they found significantly lower levels than in male individuals. In social drinkers (between 40-60 g alcohol/day) the values were higher in all the ages, than in persons not drinking alcoholic beverages, and in the age between 45-65 the levels were significantly higher than in the younger groups. Among them men had higher values than women. CONCLUSIONS: The value of CDT increases with the age, social alcoholic consumption does enhance the concentration, too.     

深圳居民饮酒行为现况调查

目的了解广东省深圳市居民饮酒行为现况,为相关部门开展健康教育和行为干预提供科学依据。方法采用多阶段随机整群抽样方法抽取深圳市3个区647名居民进行调查。结果本次调查显示深圳市居民的现在饮酒率为15.46%(100人),男性现在饮酒率为25.96%(74人),高于女性的7.18%(26人);45～59岁组饮酒率最高为24.44%(33人);现在饮酒者中<18岁开始饮酒者每天或几乎每天饮酒;饮酒主要类型依次为啤酒(37.00%)、白酒(24.00%)、其他酒类(21.00%)和果酒(18.00%);酒类消费中平均每天酒精消费量为18.84 g,其中男性为22.49 g,女性为8.17 g。酒类消费者中过量饮酒比例为22.00%(22人),其中男性为24.32%(18人),女性为15.38%(4人)。结论深圳市居民总体饮酒率不高,但是饮酒行为有年轻化趋势,并且在某些人群中饮酒率较高。     

What harms do young Australians experience in alcohol‐use situations?

OBJECTIVE: An insight into the alcohol-related experiences of young students in Perth, Western Australia, with particular emphasis to alcohol-related harm. METHOD: The sample of 2,329 students (female: n = 1,089, male: n = 1,240) is a school-based group selected using cluster sampling, with stratification by socio-economic area and represents 11 to 12 year olds' experiences with alcohol and alcohol-related harm. The SHAHRP survey instrument was developed and pre-tested to measure students' knowledge, attitudes, patterns and context of use, harms associated with the students' own alcohol consumption and harms associated with other people's use of alcohol and incorporates the students' perceptions of alcohol-related harm. RESULTS: Nearly two-thirds of all young people consumed alcohol under adult supervision; nearly 40% of all young males and 34% of all young females drink alcohol in unsupervised situations; and a fifth of young males consumed alcohol alone. Young males start drinking younger and consumed alcohol more regularly than young females, and consumed more alcohol per occasion. In the past 12 months, young males experienced more than five and young females more than three alcohol-related harms associated with their own alcohol consumption. They experienced a similar number of harms associated with other people's use of alcohol. Unsupervised drinkers were nearly seven times more likely to experience alcohol-related harm than supervised drinkers and nearly 13 times more likely to experience alcohol-related harm than non-drinkers. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: The results can help inform the development of alcohol education programs for young people.     

Risky sexual behaviors among adolescents with alcohol use disorders.

Little is known about risky sexual activity among adolescents with alcohol use disorders. This study of 371 adolescent drinkers found that those with alcohol disorders were more likely than other drinkers to be sexually active, to have greater numbers of partners, and to initiate sexual activity at slightly younger ages. Independent of alcohol group, females were more likely than males to have unprotected sexual encounters.     

Patterns of alcohol drinking and all-cause mortality: results from a large-scale population-based cohort study in Japan

To evaluate the hypothesis that, in terms of all-cause death, drinking alcohol 1-4 days per week is less harmful than daily (5-7 days/week) drinking of the same quantity of alcohol, a prospective cohort study using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted in Japan between 1990 and 2003 of 88,746 subjects (41,702 men and 47,044 women) aged 40-69 years at baseline. Among male regular drinkers consuming alcohol more than 1 day per week, light drinkers (<300 g/week) showed no increase in all-cause mortality irrespective of frequency of alcohol intake. Heavy drinkers (> or = 300 g/week), however, showed an increased risk of all-cause mortality among those who consumed alcohol 5-7 days per week, while no obvious increase was observed among those who consumed alcohol less than 4 days per week. Hazard ratios for drinkers who consumed alcohol 5-7 days per week were 1.29 (95% confidence interval: 1.12, 1.50) for 300-449 g per week and 1.55 (95% confidence interval: 1.32, 1.81) for > or = 450 g per week when compared with those for occasional drinkers who consumed alcohol 1-3 days per month. These findings support the Japanese social belief that "liver holidays," abstaining from alcohol for more than 2 days per week, are important for heavy drinkers.     

High prevalence,persistent hazardous drinking among New Zealand tertiary students

AIMS: To determine the prevalence of hazardous drinking and alcohol-related negative consequences in New Zealand tertiary students, and to identify predictors of hazardous drinking across a 6-month period. METHODS: A total of 1480 tertiary students living in halls of residence was surveyed at the start of the academic year, and a subsample of 967 students was followed up 6 months later. Questionnaire items included quantity and frequency of drinking, alcohol-related problems, use of other substances, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Drinking at follow-up was modelled using demographic characteristics, mental well-being, other substance use, alcohol-related problems, and hall drinking norms, measured at baseline. RESULTS: Among drinkers, mean (+/- SD) weekly consumption was 243 +/- 241 and 135 +/- 157 g of ethanol for males and females respectively. The majority of male (60.0%) and female (58.2%) drinkers typically consumed more than national safe drinking guidelines. Mean (+/- SD) AUDIT scores were 10.9 +/- 7.6 for males and 7.6 +/- 5.9 for females. After controlling for AUDIT scores at baseline, increased AUDIT scores at follow-up were higher with lower age, Maori ethnicity, smoking, cannabis use, high levels of alcohol-related negative consequences, and higher levels of drinking in the student's hall of residence. CONCLUSIONS: Hazardous drinking is widespread and persistent among students living in the halls of residence. There is a need for university alcohol policies and intervention approaches among New Zealand tertiary students.     

Alcohol consumption in young adults in the rural communities of Spain.

In the spring of 1987, the patterns of alcohol consumption in 1,886 young people (14-30 years old) from the rural communities (less than 10,000 inhabitants) of Castile and León (Spain) were analysed. 64.1% of the young adults took alcoholic drinks at least once a week, while 24.4% were 'daily' consumers. Beer (56%) was the preferred drink, followed by gin (22.4%) and wine (21.3%). The age of starting to drink was close to 16 years old and the alcohol intake per capita was 19 g/day. Both frequency and intake were higher among males and at weekends. The main reported reason for drinking was 'because I like its taste' (39.1%). The results confirm the common consumption of alcoholic drinks among Spanish young adults, the establishment of beer as the preferred drink and the more extensive consumption of alcohol by males and at weekends.     

中国2010-2012年15~17岁人群饮酒状况及影响因素

分析2010-2012年中国15~17岁人群饮酒现况及其影响因素,为政府部门制定相关政策提供科学依据.方法 使用2010-2012年中国居民营养与健康状况监测调查“个人健康情况调查问卷”中的饮酒情况数据,对6 581名15~17岁人群饮酒率、饮酒类型和日均酒精摄入量及其影响因素进行分析.结果 中国15~ 17岁人群饮酒率为14.0%,男性(19.2%)高于女性(8.5%);17岁人群饮酒率最高,为18.0%.不同性别、年龄人群饮酒率差异均有统计学意义(x2值分别为148.04,52.67,P值均<0.01).饮用啤酒的比例最高(85.1%),其次为葡萄酒(35.2%).饮酒人群的日均酒精摄入量为4.9 g,其中男性(5.6 g)高于女性(3.4 g),17岁人群日均酒精摄入量最高(5.5 g),不同性别、年龄及城乡人群饮酒量差异均有统计学意义(x2值分别为83.37,7.67,29.70,P值均<0.05).多因素分析显示,男性、家庭人均年收入<10 000元、现在吸烟者饮酒率高.结论 中国15~17岁人群的饮酒问题不容忽视,建议尽早对该人群进行不饮酒干预.     

Alcohol use across the menstrual cycle among marihuana users

Thirty women completed alcohol, marihuana, and tobacco use diaries and Form T of the Moos Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ) every day for three consecutive menstrual cycles. A 99.0% response rate was obtained: 2750 of a possible 2778 diaries were returned. Women reported drinking an average of 1.2 (+/- 1.9) alcoholic drinks per day (range for individuals: 2.7 [+/- 1.7] to 0.2 [+/- 0.5]). Frequency of alcohol use was unrelated to menstrual cycle phase. Seven of the 8 MDQ factors were significantly (p less than 0.04 to p less than 0.001) but weakly related to alcohol use: distress and alcohol use were positively related. There was a significant relationship between tobacco and alcohol use in 11 subjects who smoked at least half a pack of tobacco cigarettes per day but not in 10 occasional smokers. Further, heavier drinkers were considerably more likely to smoke tobacco than were more moderate drinkers. These data indicate that in the absence of severe premenstrual distress, menstrual cycle phase is not a good predictor of alcohol use among female social drinkers.     

Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with lower chronic disease burden expressed in disability-adjusted life years: a prospective cohort study

The relation of alcohol consumption with disease burden remains debated partly due to opposite associations with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer. The relation of alcohol consumption with disease burden expressed in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) summarizes opposing associations of alcohol consumption on chronic diseases. This study aimed to investigate the association of alcohol consumption with chronic disease burden expressed in DALYs based on individual-participant data. The study was a prospective study among 33,066 men and women from the EPIC-NL cohort. At baseline, alcohol consumption was assessed with a validated food-frequency questionnaire. Participants were followed for occurrence of and mortality from chronic diseases and DALYs were calculated. After 12.4 years follow-up, 6647 disease incidences and 1482 deaths were documented, resulting in 68,225 healthy years of life lost (6225 DALYs). Moderate drinkers (women 5–14.9 g/day, men 5–29.9 g/day) had a lower chronic disease burden (mean DALYs ?0.27; 95% CI ?0.43; ?0.11) than light drinkers (0–4.9 g/day), driven by a lower disease burden due to CVD (?0.18: ?0.29; ?0.06) but not cancer (?0.05: ?0.16; 0.06). The associations were most pronounced among older participants (≥50 years; ?0.32; ?0.53; ?0.10) and not observed among younger women (?0.08; ?0.43; 0.35), albeit non-significant (p_interaction > 0.14). Substantial drinking (women 15–29.9 g/day, men 30–59.9 g/day) compared to light drinking was not associated with chronic disease burden. Our results show that moderate compared to light alcohol consumption was associated with living approximately 3 months longer in good health. These results were mainly observed among older participants and not seen among younger women.     

Alcoholic intake in a small rural village

Eight hundred and eighteen (400 males and 418 females), randomly selected inhabitants of an economically depressed rural village in the south of Tenerife, have been analysed with respect to their daily alcoholic intake and its relationship to sex, age, marital status, educational and economical level, job, tobacco use and the CAGE and brief MAST tests. Five hundred and four (68.9%) consumed alcoholic beverages, while 254 (31.1%) were teetotal; 12.1% of the subjects aged more than 15 years (23.85% of the males and 1.4% of the females) consumed 'risk' amounts of alcoholic beverages (more than 80 g/day and 40 g/day respectively). Mean ethanol consumption was 37.9 +/- 2.1 g/day for the male sex and 3.9 +/- 0.6 g/day for the female. Maximum mean ethanol consumption (60.9 g/day) was observed among the males aged 55-64 years. The distribution of the population according to the amount of ethanol consumed fits into Lederman's curve, most of the individuals being consumers of small amounts of ethanol. Male sex, middle age, married status, unskilled job, low educational level, and tobacco use were all related to a higher ethanol consumption. CAGE and brief MAST tests detected only 40.5% and 47% respectively of the subjects with 'risk' levels of alcohol consumption.     

Epidemiology of self‐reported past heavy drinking in Hispanic adults

Objectives. Self‐reports of past heavy drinking correlate with the current drinking practices and with risk of mortality in non‐Hispanic males. The prevalence of past heavy drinking has not been reported in Hispanic populations.

Methods. Using data from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES) we (1) report on the prevalence, duration and severity of past heavy drinking in three Hispanic groups, (2) compare the current alcohol consumption patterns among past heavy drinkers and those who do not report a history of past heavy drinking and (3) compare the risk factor profiles and health indicators in these two groups.

Results. The prevalence of past heavy drinking among Mexican American and Puerto Rican males ranged from 28–35% while the rates for Cuban American males ranged from 7–16%. The rates for Hispanic women were much lower (1–8%). The average years of past heavy drinking ranged from 2.3–14.9 years, while the alcohol consumption during the past heavy drinking period ranged from 24.4–44.0 drinks per week. Past heavy drinkers tended to consume more alcohol at present than did never heavy drinkers with the greatest differences found for Mexican American females. Comparisons of the risk factors and health indicators by drinking status revealed a higher prevalence of smoking among past heavy drinkers (50–60%) versus never heavy drinkers (34–43%). Past heavy drinking Mexican American females also reported significantly more chronic conditions and depressive symptoms than did never heavy drinkers.

Conclusions. Prevalence rates of past heavy drinking among Mexican American and Puerto Rican males are approximately three times higher than rates reported for non‐Hispanic male populations.