Bartenders’ and Rum Shopkeepers’ Knowledge of and Attitudes Toward “Problem Drinking” in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Harmful alcohol use encompasses a spectrum of habits, including heavy episodic drinking (HED) which increases the risk of acute alcohol-related harms. The prevalence of HED in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is 5.7% among the overall population aged 15 years and older and 10.2% among drinkers. Responsible Beverage Service interventions train alcohol servers to limit levels of intoxication attained by customers and decrease acute alcohol-related harms. The objectives of this study were to determine bar tenders’ and rum shopkeepers’ knowledge of and attitudes toward problem drinking and willingness to participate in server training. Researchers used convenience and purposive sampling to recruit 30 participants from Barraouile, Kingstown, and Calliaqua to participate in semi-structured interviews designed to explore study objectives. Results and conclusions were derived from grounded theory analysis. Heavy episodic drinking is common but not stigmatized. Heavy drinking is considered a “problem” if the customer attains a level of disinhibition causing drunken and disruptive or injurious behavior. Bartenders and rum shopkeepers reported intervening with visibly intoxicated patrons and encouraging cessation of continued alcohol consumption. Participants cited economic incentives, prevention of alcohol-related harms, and personal morals as motivators to prevent drunkenness. Respondents acknowledged that encouraging responsible drinking was a legitimate part of their role and were favorable to server training. However, there were mixed opinions about the intervention’s perceived efficacy given absent community-wide standards on preventing intoxication and limitations of existing alcohol policy. Given respondents’ motivation and lack of standardized alcohol server training in SVG, mandated server training can be an effective strategy when promoted as one piece of a multi-component alcohol policy.     

Effect of Acute Pain on Splenic NK Cell Activity,Lymphocyte Proliferation and Cytokine Production Activities

Various types of physical and physiological stress in animals have been shown to affect their humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. The present study was designed to investigate the possible influence of acute pain on the immune system. BALB/c mice were exposed to an increasing number of heat shocks using a Tail Flick apparatus; an equal number of control mice received no shock treatments. After each of the regimens was completed, the spleen of each mouse was recovered and various cell populations isolated to assess: the proliferative response to phytohemagglutinin by lymphocytes; cytotoxic activities of natural killer (NK) cells; and, the production of select important cytokines by splenic lymphocytes. The results indicated that NK cell activity and proliferation of lymphocytes were significantly (p < 0.001) increased due to the shock regimens after only a single day's rounds of stimulation (i.e., 3 rounds of ≈12 equally time-spaced shocks/hr with 30–45 min gap between rounds). After 2 and 3 days' rounds of stimulations, no significant changes were detected in the proliferative response of isolated lymphocytes; conversely, the activity of NK cells remained significantly elevated compared to the controls hosts' cells, even on the second day of stimulation but not on the third. Regarding effects on cytokines, no significant changes were detected in the amount of Interferon-γ (IFNγ) and Interlukin-10 (IL-10) produced by lymphocytes obtained from the spleens of any of the shocked mice. These results could suggest that certain acute stressors might actually strengthen a host's immunological reactivity and, possibly, result in an enhanced capacity to resist pathogens that might infect the body.