Australian alcohol consumption

Alcohol and drug use patterns of prisoners in perth

Between June and September 1987 926 prisoners received into Perth metropolitan prisons were screened for alcohol and drug problems. A comprehensive interviewer administered questionnaire and other measures such as content analysis of medical and criminal records provided the data base. To enable a thorough analysis, and a comparison across record types, an eight point classification system was used. This system incorporated dimensions of “consumption”, “dependency”, “association with crime” and “self perception” for alcohol and drug use. The results suggest that a third of the sample consume “hazardous” amounts of alcohol. Only 6% of the sample were classified as current drug dependents. The results support previous research which indicates that alcohol abuse amongst offenders is a major problem. The groups that emerge as the main concerns are: Aboriginal alcohol abusers, alcohol abusers not concerned with their alcohol use, drunk drivers and women drug and alcohol abusers. The validity of the screening insruments is examined, a strategy for screening for drug and alcohol problems is susggested and the implications of the results for prevention and treatment interventions is discussed.

Alcohol consumption and driving intentions amongst hotel patrons

To examine the extent to which hotel patrons drink in excess of current health recommendations, and to identify risk factors for excessive drinking, hotel patrons were invited to participate in a survey of social drinking, which included a free breath test. Patrons were approached at 15 min. intervals, and 1000 subjects were studied. Amongst this group of hotel patrons interviewed, 1 in 2 had consumed alcohol in excess of the daily limit recommended by the National Health & Medical Research Council. One in 10 intending drivers had a BAC over the legal limit. Excessive drinking and drink driving appear to be prevalent amongst hotel patrons, and hotels should be targets for interventions designed to reduce these problems. For example, the National Guidelines for the Responsible Serving of Alcohol should be more widely practised.

Screening alcohol & drug use in a general practice unit: comparison of computerised and traditional methods

Systematic screening of patients for areas of health risk in their lifestyle has much potential for primary health care clinicians as a cost-effective and time saving means to identify 'at risk' individuals. In the area of alcohol and drug problems, such early identification increases the likelihood of successful intervention. The present study, conducted at a general practice unit, compared the use of a computer to screen for alcohol and drug use with the two more traditional assessment methods of face-to-face interview and paper and pencil questionnaire. It was found that levels of reported consumption were similar across assessment methods. Although the interview method was strongly preferred overall, patients' preference for the computer increased significantly after use. The computer was also found to be more acceptable to patients reporting non-medical drug use, a potentially threatening and sensitive issue. There was a low refusal rate and most patients were willing to allow their doctor to see the assessment results. This indicates that screening for alcohol and drug use is acceptable to general practice patients, and that the computer can play a useful role as a prevention aid.

Neuropathological alterations in alcoholic brains. Studies arising from the New South Wales Tissue Resource Centre

Alcohol dependence and abuse are among the most costly health problems in the world from both social and economic points of view. Patterns of drinking appear to be changing throughout the world with more women and young people drinking heavily. Excessive drinking can lead to impairment of cognitive function and structural brain changes--some permanent, some reversible. Patterns of damage appear to relate to lifetime alcohol consumption but, more importantly, to associated medical complications. The most significant of these is the alcohol-related vitamin deficient state, the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS), which is caused by thiamin deficiency but is seen most commonly in alcoholics. Careful selection and classification of alcoholic cases into those with and without these complications, together with detailed quantitative neuropathological analyses has provided data that gives clues to the most vulnerable regions and cells in the brain. Brain shrinkage is largely accounted for by loss of white matter. Some of this damage appears to be reversible. Alcohol-related neuronal loss has been documented in specific regions of the cerebral cortex (superior frontal association cortex), hypothalamus and cerebellum. No change is found in basal ganglia, nucleus basalis, or serotonergic raphe nuclei. Many of these regions which are normal in uncomplicated alcoholics are damaged in those with the WKS. Dendritic and synaptic changes have been documented in alcoholics and these, together with receptor and transmitter changes, may explain functional changes and cognitive deficits, which precede more severe structural neuronal changes. A resource to provide human brain tissues for these types of studies has been developed at the University of Sydney--the New South Wales Tissue Resource Centre. The aim of this facility is to provide research groups throughout the world with fresh and/or frozen tissues from well-characterized cases of alcohol-related brain damage and matched controls. The development of new technologies in pathology and molecular biology means that many more questions can be addressed using appropriately stored human brain tissues. Examples of the application of some of these techniques, involving neurochemical, neuropharmacological, neuroimaging and gene expression studies are included in this paper. Important public health outcomes have arisen from some of these studies including the enrichment of bread flour with thiamin for the whole of Australia. Researchers with an interest in alcohol studies can access tissues from this brain bank.

Influence of thiamine on the behavioral sensitivity to ethanol

Changes in sensitivity to ethanol's rate-decreasing effects on operant performance were examined in control rats and cohorts that received diet-induced or diet+pyrithiamine-induced thiamine deficiency. Seven groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats (12 rats/group) were trained in a 5-cycle lever-press operant task under a fixed-ratio 30 schedule of food reinforcement. Once trained to maintain consistent operant performance across all 5 cycles, each rat was tested with various doses of ethanol injected at the beginning of each time-out cycle. Each group of rats demonstrated equivalent saline baseline operant performance and ED50 for ethanol's rate-suppressing effects. Training sessions were suspended and rats received either a short- (9 days) or long-term (5-week) exposure to regular rat chow diet or thiamine-deficient diet, and received either saline or pyrithiamine injections in a 2 x 2 design. Three additional control groups were maintained on a regular rat chow diet and received supplemental injections of either thiamine+pyrithiamine injections, thiamine+saline injections, or saline+pyrithiamine injections. The controlled diet phase continued until the development of overt signs of thiamine deficiency, at which time thiamine supplements were administered for 4 days. In phase 3, all rats were retrained in the operant task and a second ethanol dose-effect function was generated. A history of thiamine deficiency and recovery failed to shift the behavioral dose-effect functions significantly for ethanol and their associated blood alcohol curves. Most interestingly, significant behavioral sensitization to ethanol's rate suppressant effects was demonstrated in the two control groups of rats receiving regular rat chow diet in combination with supplemental injections of thiamine and either saline or pyrithiamine.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Alcohol consumption across the lifecycle in Australia, 1985-1988

National studies show an overall decline in alcohol consumption across a range of developed countries. Using national population survey data collected in 1985 and 1988 in Australia indicate a decline in alcohol consumption with a differential impact upon particular age and sex groups. In particular, the results support Ledermann's prediction that as consumption declines, heavy drinkers will decline disproportionately. This trend is particularly notable among women. While overall levels of alcohol consumption have remained stable among the young, the pattern for women is for a uniform decrease in consumption, for men, a decrease in the older age groups. Various possible explanations for these trends are discussed.

Attitudes to alcoholism in a Sydney teaching hospital

The physical and psychosocial tolls that are attributable to alcohol are well-documented. However, our community has been slow to respond to this serious problem. A survey of attitudes to alcoholism at a Sydney teaching hospital found an acceptance of the disease model and an acknowledgement of alcohol as Australia's main problem drug. The vast majority of respondents felt that the National Campaign against Drug Abuse had paid inadequate attention to alcohol.

Drug use by prostitutes in Sydney

We report a comparative study of drug consumption by 277 female prostitutes and 95 women who had never worked as prostitutes, attending the Sydney STD Centre in 1985 and 1987. Marijuana was the drug most often used by prostitutes and non-prostitutes, followed by sleeping pills, amphetamines, cocaine and heroin. About 12% in both groups used intravenous drugs but prostitutes were significantly more likely to share needles and syringes. Prostitutes were also more likely to smoke cigarettes than non-prostitutes, and young prostitutes smoked significantly more heavily than other women in the study. Although fewer prostitutes than non-prostitutes drank alcohol, those who did drink were more likely to do so at a harmful level. We conclude that where differences in drug consumption exist between prostitutes and non-prostitutes, they are mainly work related.

The influence of alcohol countermeasures in changing drink driving attitudes

Action to reduce the Australian road death toll has largely depended on legislative initiatives. The response can be judged by the reduction in the annual number offatalities from 3, 798 in 1970 to 2, 812 in 1984. A significant component of road accident countermeasures concerns the control of illegal drink driving. Alcohol misuse remains the single most important factor contributing to road crash deaths and injuries in a country where solid drinking by the majority of the community is normal behaviour. In Australia, the effectiveness of drink driving control has depended on the development of a package of countermeasures, which includes a blood alcohol legal limit of 0.05g% in all but two states, compulsory blood alcohol testing of casualties, random breath testing and heavy penalties.

The effectiveness of these measures in changing drinking habits and attitudes to drink driving is reflected statistically by the reduction in the national percentage of drivers and riders killed with an illegal blood alcohol concentration from 44% in 1981 to 36% in 1984. Over a similar period there was a fall in all fatalities per 10, 000 registered vehicles from 8.5 to 2.9. In the State of Victoria, there was a fall in alcohol-affected casualties from 37% in 1977 to 24% in 1984.

A plea is made for uniformity of drink driving legislation on a national basis: more systematic and sequential education programmes for road safety knowledge and behaviour; a better balance in advertising between the promotion of alcohol use and the awareness of the health hazard of alcohol consumption.