Alcohol Recognition and Desire to Drink of Extended Alcohol Brand Logos

Alcohol companies in Thailand have adopted surrogate marketing that uses similar logos on non-alcoholic products. We aimed to assess variations of the alcohol recognition using reaction time and desire to drink among consumers exposed to original logos and modified logos (i.e., black logos, partial logos, logos on non-alcoholic beverages and other merchandise). Participants aged ≥19 years took part in this cross-sectional study. The primary independent variables were types of logos: original logos, modified logos (i.e., black logos, partial logos, logos on non-alcoholic beverages, and logos on other merchandise). An in-house-developed online survey randomly presented the logos. Alcohol recognition and the desire to drink alcohol were assessed. The study included 1185 participants. More time (estimated coefficient of reaction time <0.5 s) was required to recognize the modified logos than the original logos. Younger participants (19-24 years) reacted significantly faster than the older participants (>25 years) after seeing all types of logos. The desire to drink alcohol (<0.5 point) upon seeing the modified logos was lower than the original logos. No significant difference in the desire was observed between the younger and older participants upon seeing the original and partial logos. The modified logos reminded consumers of the alcohol products of that brand with a tiny difference in reaction time and the desire to drink without practical significance.

Alcohol Consumption Is a Modifiable Risk Factor for Breast Cancer: Are Women Aware of This Relationship?

AIMS

Despite alcohol consumption being a dose-dependent risk factor for breast cancer, a recent study conducted in the UK found <20% of women attending breast screening programmes were aware of this relationship and proposed proper information campaigns need to be conducted. We aimed to investigate the awareness of this relationship among a related sample of Italian women to evaluate whether similar information campaigns should also be conducted in Italy.

METHODS

The questionnaire used by the UK study was translated into Italian, slightly modified for the Italian context, validated and submitted to a sample of Italian women.

RESULTS

Overall 507 women were interviewed. Among them, 160 were classified as breast cancer screening attenders (SG), 44 as symptomatic breast clinic attenders (CAG) and 303 as non-screening group (NSG). Alcohol was correctly identified as a risk factor for breast cancer by 16.9, 11.4 and 14.9% of participants of SG, CAG and NSG, respectively without differences between the three groups. Despite the methodological differences, the rates of participants who correctly identified alcohol as a risk factor among women attending breast screening programmes were surprisingly similar between the study conducted in UK (15.7%) and the present study (16.9%).

CONCLUSION

The results of the present study confirm the limited awareness of the relationship between alcohol consumption and risk of developing breast cancer among women and suggest the urgent need to conduct proper awareness-raising campaigns to counter this in the Italian female population.

Update on the management of alcohol use disorders

Alcohol use disorders (AUD) are common, particularly in patients attending mental health services. Clinicians are often hesitant to explore with patients their relationship with alcohol and the role that it has in their presenting complaint, despite being ideally placed to optimise on a ‘teachable moment’ and initiate treatment, where necessary. This article provides an overview of AUD and their identification and management options.