National Alcohol Survey of households in Trinidad and Tobago (NASHTT): Alcohol use in households

BACKGROUND

To determine the patterns of alcohol use among households in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) and to estimate the association between alcohol use and negative psychological, social, or physical events experienced by the household.

METHODS

A convenience sample of 1837 households across T&T. We identified bivariate correlates of alcohol use, and heavy episodic drinking using chi-square and t-test analyses and used multivariable logistic regression to estimate adjusted associations between household alcohol use and experiences within the past 12 months adjusted for sociodemographic covariates.

RESULTS

One thousand five hundred two households had complete data for all variables (82% response rate). Nearly two thirds (64%) of households included alcohol users; 57% of household that consumed alcohol also reported heavy episodic drinking. Households that reported alcohol consumption were significantly more likely to report illnesses within the households, relationship problems, and behavioral and antisocial problems with children. Among households where a member was employed, those who consumed alcohol were nearly twice as likely (OR = 1.98; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03, 3.82) to have a household member call in sick to work and 2.9 times as likely (OR = 2.9; CI 1.19, 7.04) to have a household member suffer work related problems compared with households who reported not consuming alcohol.

CONCLUSIONS

Approximately two thirds of households in T&T reported using alcohol. These households were more likely to report psychological, physical, and social problems. These findings would support efforts to enforce current policies, laws, and regulations as well as new strategies to reduce the impact of harmful alcohol consumption on households in T&T.

Prescribing medications and nutritional supplements for athletes

Athletes in the Caribbean depend heavily on their medical personnel to advise on the correct use of medications for their illnesses. Doctors, pharmacists and paramedical personnel that accompany or treat athletes must be knowledgeable of which commonly prescribed substances are banned in sport in order to correctly advise and treat the athletes under their care. The objective is to review the classes of banned substances, using common examples of medications, as defined by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in a simplistic manner in order to allow treating medical personnel to prescribe medications to athletes with the confidence of not violating doping regulations. The concept of Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) is introduced. Upper respiratory tract infections and asthma are discussed as they are both common in athletes. The use of corticosteroids and nutritional supplements are also discussed.