Status Inconsistency and Drinking Patterns among Working Men and Women

Previous research suggests that status inconsistents constitute a social category that is vulnerable to embarrassments and disappointments, since individuals who are of high status on one dimension and low status on another tend to respond to themselves in terms of the higher status, while other people tend to respond to them in terms of the lower one. This article extends this research to patterns of alcohol consumption and finds that status and status inconsistency are significantly associated with frequency of consumption and quantity consumed per occasion among certain groups of drinkers.     

Drinking and Alcohol-Related Harm Among New Zealand University Students: Findings From a National Web-Based Survey

Background: Alcohol‐related harm is pervasive among college students in the United States of America and Canada, where a third to half of undergraduates binge drink at least fortnightly. There have been no national studies outside North America. We estimated the prevalence of binge drinking, related harms, and individual risk factors among undergraduates in New Zealand. Methods: A web survey was completed by 2,548 undergraduates (63% response) at 5 of New Zealand’s 8 universities. Drinking patterns and alcohol‐related problems in the preceding 4 weeks were measured. Drinking diaries for the preceding 7 days were completed. Multivariate analyses were used to identify individual risk factors. Results: A total of 81% of both women and men drank in the previous 4 weeks, 37% reported 1 or more binge episodes in the last week, 14% of women and 15% of men reported 2+ binge episodes in the last week, and 68% scored in the hazardous range (4+) on the AUDIT consumption subscale. A mean of 1.8 (95% confidence interval 1.4, 2.3) distinct alcohol‐related risk behaviors or harmful consequences were reported, e.g., 33% had a blackout, 6% had unprotected sex, and 5% said they were physically aggressive toward someone, in the preceding 4 weeks. Drink‐driving or being the passenger of a drink‐driver in the last 4 weeks was reported by 9% of women and 11% of men. Risk factors for frequent binge drinking included: lower age, earlier age of drinking onset, monthly or more frequent binge drinking in high school, and living in a residential hall or a shared house (relative to living with parents). These correlates were similar to those identified in U.S. and Canadian studies. Conclusions: Strategies are needed to reduce the availability and promotion of alcohol on and around university campuses in New Zealand. Given the high prevalence of binge drinking in high school and its strong association with later binge drinking, strategies aimed at youth drinking are also a priority. In universities, high‐risk drinkers should be identified and offered intervention early in their undergraduate careers.     

Returning to Drinking as a Result of Erectile Dysfunction

No abstract available for this article.     

Drinking Patterns and Drinking Problems in 1984: Results from a General Population Survey

Findings on alcohol consumption and alcohol problems from a 1984 general population survey are presented and compared to previous survey findings. Eighteen percent of all men and 5% of all women were classified as frequent heavy drinkers; 6% of all men drinkers and 2% of all women drinkers reported that they got "drunk" as often as once per week or more. A system for measuring drinking problems, based largely on the work of Cahalan and Room, is presented and explained. As when interpreting any system of measuring drinking problems in a general population survey, readers must be aware that the resulting prevalence rates are strongly influenced by arbitrary decisions about where cutpoints should be drawn. With this caveat in mind, the results show that 9% of men drinkers and 4% of women drinkers reported problematic drinking behavior at what is defined as a moderate level of severity. Similarly, 14% of men drinkers and 6% of women drinkers reported adverse tangible consequences of drinking at a moderate level of severity. The age and sex distributions of drinking, heavy drinking, intoxication, and drinking problems were as expected, with greater proportions of men than women reporting these things and greater proportions of younger than older drinkers reporting them.     

Multiple Sclerosis and Voiding Dysfunction in Women

Multiple sclerosis is a neurological disorder that often progresses to disability. Lower urinary tract symptoms and voiding dysfunction are common, and due to the complex and changing nature of the disease process, they are often difficult to treat. In this review, we attempt to summarize the pathophysiology and epidemiology of multiple sclerosis and to provide information on the urological evaluation and treatment of these patients.     

Drinking during Pregnancy in Alcoholic Women

Assessment of specific periods of bringe drinking (including dates, duration, and amount consumed) would seem particularly important in research on the outcome of pregnancy. One study has already shown that brain malformations in stillborn and expired infants were more related to the pattern of drinking than to overall "AA score."     

Survey of Eating Disorder Symptoms among Women in Treatment for Substance Abuse

A strong association between substance use disorders (SUDs) and eating disorders (EDs) in women has been established. Yet, little is known about the rates and impact of ED symptoms in women presenting to addiction treatment. The current investigation assessed the prevalence of ED symptoms and their effect on treatment outcomes in a sample of substance abusing women with co‐occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) enrolled in outpatient substance use programs. Participants were 122 women who participated in a multisite clinical trial comparing two behavioral treatments for co‐occurring SUD and PTSD. The Eating Disorder Examination‐self report, and measures of PTSD and SUD symptoms were administered at baseline, during treatment and at four follow‐up points. Two subgroups emerged; those reporting binge eating in the 28 days prior to baseline (Binge group; n = 35) and those who reported no binge eating episodes (No Binge group; n = 87). Women in the Binge group endorsed significantly higher ED, PTSD, and depression symptoms at baseline than those in the No Binge group. Although all participants showed significant reductions in PTSD symptoms and improvements in abstinence rates during the study period, the improvements for the Binge group were significantly lower. These findings suggest that a subgroup of women with co‐occurring PTSD and SUDs, who endorsed binge ED symptoms, responded differently to SUD/PTSD group treatment. Identification of ED symptoms among treatment‐seeking women with SUDs may be an important element in tailoring interventions and enhancing treatment outcomes. (Am J Addict 2010;19:245–251)     

Phosphatidylethanol and Alcohol Consumption in Reproductive Age Women

Background: Fetal alcohol disorders are preventable, but self‐reported alcohol consumption can be misleading and impede effective treatment. Biomarkers represent an alternative method for assessing alcohol use, and this study evaluated the relationship between blood phosphatidylethanol (PEth) and alcohol use in a sample of reproductive age women. Methods: Alcohol use was estimated by validated self‐report methods in 80 nonpregnant women ages 18 to 35. PEth was measured by a contracted laboratory using a liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry assay. Regression methods appropriate for the distribution of PEth were used to define its relationship to alcohol consumption during the prior 2 weeks and explore the effects of drinking patterns on this association. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to estimate the sensitivity of PEth for various drinking levels at 95% specific cutoffs. Results: PEth had a positive linear association with grams of alcohol consumed (p < 0.001), and was detectable in 93% of subjects consuming an average of 2 or more drinks per day. The relationship between total alcohol consumption and PEth may be stronger in women with recent heavy drinking days. The relationship between drinking and PEth varied considerably between individuals, and sensitivity for a certain amount of drinking was low at a highly specific cutoff concentration. Conclusions: PEth is a highly sensitive indicator of moderate and heavy alcohol consumption in reproductive age women and may complement the use of self‐report alcohol screens when additional objective markers of alcohol use are desirable. However, choosing a highly valid cutoff concentration for PEth to differentiate various levels of alcohol consumption may not be feasible.     

Drinking habits among high school students in Perugia, Italy, in 1981 and 1988: time trends and correlates.

The prevalence of alcohol consumption among 9th (14-15 years old) and 13th grade (18-19 years old) high school students in Perugia, Italy, was investigated in 1981 and 1988. Wine was the most popular beverage, although its use declined in the 7-year period. Beer consumption remained stable, but it was at a lower level than wine. Overall, alcohol consumption showed a slight decline among both 9th and 13th graders. However, the proportion of excessive drinkers increased, and a growing phenomenon of drunkenness among students was observed. Alcohol consumption was positively associated with sex and smoking and negatively associated with father's education and knowledge of the health hazards of alcohol abuse by multivariate analysis.     

Service Use and Barriers to Care among Heroin Users: Results from a National Survey

Background: Heroin use is associated with many serious consequences.While effective treatments exist, barriers to services persist. Understanding service use and barriers to treatment can structure treatment practice and target interventions for those who are most at risk. Objectives: To describe patterns and correlates of substance abuse service utilization and treatment barriers among a nationally representative sample of heroin users. Methods: Data for this study were derived from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. This study focused on lifetime heroin users (N = 150). Results: Fifty-nine percent of heroin users reported receiving at least one treatment service. The most common services used were 12-step programs, detoxification, and rehabilitation. Approximately 44% reported at least one barrier to treatment. The most common were lack of motivation and beliefs that it could be managed alone. In a multivariate logistic regression, having a heroin use disorder was associated with a greater likelihood of receiving services (OR = 6.09) and experiencing a barrier (OR = 11.11) compared to those without a disorder. Conclusions and Scientific Significance: High rates of service use and barriers were observed for all levels of heroin involvement. These findings underscore the importance of improving access to services for this group, even when full criteria for a drug disorder is not met. Integration of motivational approaches is also needed within the most common services used. To our knowledge, this is the first study to describe patterns and correlates of service use using a nationally representative community sample of heroin users.     

Cognitive Ability and Drinking Behavior in a National Sample of Young Adults

The role of verbal intelligence (VI) as an antecedent and moderator of alcohol-related problems was investigated for a national sample of young adults. A measure of VI was used to predict alcohol related behavior 5 years later. Results indicated that lower VI was associated with lower risk for drinking per se. Lower VI was also associated with higher risk for alcohol-related problems among those who drink. These findings were robust across gender, age, and to a large extent across different areas of alcohol related problems. Cognitive-behavioral functions associated with intelligence, such as social judgement, social inference, and social skills, are proposed as possible moderators of the relationship between intelligence and alcohol-related problems.     

Estrogen Replacement Reverses Endothelial Dysfunction in Postmenopausal Women

Purpose: To measure the effect of long-term clinical hormone replacement therapy on brachial artery vasomotor responses, and to compare these responses in premenopausal and postmenopausal women.Patients and Methods: We studied 23 postmenopausal women, including 18 who were evaluated prior to starting clinically indicated oral hormone replacement therapy. Twelve postmenopausal women received estrogen alone, the other 6 were treated with estrogen/medroxyprogesterone combinations. Eleven premenopausal volunteers served as a comparison group. Change in brachial artery diameter in response to postischemic hyperemic flow and sublingual nitroglycerin was measured by ultrasound.Results: The 18 postmenopausal subjects receiving hormone replacement showed a progressive improvement in their postischemic vasodilation. Mean (±SD) postischemic vasodilation was 0.4% ± 7.1% prior to estrogen replacement. There were significant increases in postischemic vasodilation of 4.8% ± 6.6% after 1 month and 8.3% ± 3.4% after 6 months of estrogen replacement. The response to nitroglycerin was similar at all time points studied. Women with the most abnormal responses to hyperemic flow at baseline demonstrated the greatest improvement after 6 months of hormone replacement therapy. Premenopausal and postmenopausal subjects differed in their response to hyperemic flow, with premenopausal women showing 5.8% vasodilatation compared with a 0.6% vasodilation in postmenopausal women (P = 0.046).Conclusions: Endothelial function is abnormal in many postmenopausal women compared with premenopausal women, and in some postmenopausal women it can be enhanced by estrogen replacement therapy. This effect may increase with prolonged use.     

Drinking habits among older persons: findings from the NHANES I Epidemiologic Followup Study (1982-84). National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

OBJECTIVES: To describe alcohol use and its sociodemographic correlates among persons aged 65 years and older in a US probability sample. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of a national probability sample-based cohort study. SETTING: Multiple sites throughout the United States. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 3448 persons aged 65 and older who participated in the first wave of the NHANES I Epidemiologic Followup Study (1982-84). MEASUREMENTS: We describe the alcohol use behaviors and demographic characteristics of 3448 persons aged 65 and older. Least squares regression models were used to assess associations between older persons' sociodemographic characteristics and alcohol use. RESULTS: Sixty percent of the sample reported having 12 or more drinks of alcohol in at least 1 year of their lives. Seventy-nine percent of these older drinkers were currently drinking. Twenty-five percent of all drinkers drank daily (31% men, 19% women). Using gender-specific definitions (men >2 drinks/day; women >1 drink/day), 16% of men drinking alcohol and 15% of women drinking alcohol were heavy drinkers. Younger age, male gender, and higher income were associated with greater alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS: Most older persons who ever drank alcohol in their lifetimes were currently drinking. In addition, a substantial number of older persons were drinking currently at levels that may place them at risk of adverse health consequences.     

Attitudes towards Anti-SARS-CoV2 Vaccination among Healthcare Workers: Results from a National Survey in Italy

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has afflicted tens of millions of people, fostering and unprecedent effort in vaccine development and distribution. Healthcare workers (HCW) play a key role in vaccine promotion and patient guidance, and it is likely that hesitancy among this population will have a major impact on the adoption of a successful immunization policy. To investigate HCW attitudes towards anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) vaccination, we developed an anonymous online cross-sectional survey. 1723 Italian HCW responded. Overall, 1155 (67%) intended to be vaccinated, while 443 (26%) were not sure and 125 (7%) declared refusal. In multivariate analysis, factors associated with hesitancy were using Facebook as the main information source and being a non-physician HCW, while predictors of acceptance included younger age, being in close contact with high-risk groups and having received flu vaccination during the 2019–2020 season. Reasons for hesitancy included lack of trust in vaccine safety (85%) and receiving little (78%) or conflicting (69%) information about vaccines. According to our results, adequate investment in vaccine education for healthcare personnel appears to be urgently needed, prioritizing non-physicians and information quality spread through social media. We hope that our data could help governments and policy-makers to target communication in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign.