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Who under‐reports their alcohol consumption in telephone surveys and by how much? An application of the ‘yesterday method’ in a national C anadian substance use survey
Author(s) -
Stockwell Tim,
Zhao Jinhui,
Macdonald Scott
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0965-2140
DOI - 10.1111/add.12609
Subject(s) - yesterday , consumption (sociology) , alcohol consumption , environmental health , medicine , alcohol , demography , epidemiology , chemistry , social science , biochemistry , physics , astronomy , sociology
Background and Aims Adjustments for under‐reporting in alcohol surveys have been used in epidemiological and policy studies which assume that all drinkers underestimate their consumption equally. This study aims to describe a method of estimating how under‐reporting of alcohol consumption might vary by age, gender and consumption level. Method The C anadian A lcohol and D rug U se M onitoring S urvey ( CADUMS ) 2008–10 ( n = 43 371) asks about beverage‐specific ‘yesterday’ consumption ( BSY ) and quantity–frequency ( QF ). Observed drinking frequencies for different age and gender groups were calculated from BSY and used to correct values of F in QF . Beverage‐specific correction factors for quantity ( Q ) were calculated by comparing consumption estimated from BSY with sales data. Results Drinking frequency was underestimated by males ( Z = 24.62, P < 0.001) and females ( Z = 17.46, P < 0.001) in the QF as assessed by comparing with frequency and quantity of yesterday drinking. Spirits consumption was underestimated by 65.94% compared with sales data, wine by 38.35% and beer by 49.02%. After adjusting Q and F values accordingly, regression analysis found alcohol consumption to be underestimated significantly more by younger drinkers (e.g. 82.9 ± 1.19% for underage drinkers versus 70.38 ± 1.54% for those 65+, P < 0.001) and by low‐risk more than high‐risk drinkers (76.25 ± 0.34% versus 49.22 ± 3.01%, P < 0.001). Under‐reporting did not differ by gender. Conclusions Alcohol consumption surveys can use the beverage‐specific ‘yesterday method’ to correct for under‐reporting of consumption among subgroups. Alcohol consumption among C anadians appears to be under‐reported to an equal degree by men and women. Younger drinkers under‐report alcohol consumption to a greater degree than do older drinkers, while low‐risk drinkers underestimate more than do medium and high‐risk drinkers.