Open AccessBaseline Assessment of Alcohol-Related Knowledge of and Support for Alcohol Warning Labels Among Alcohol Consumers in Northern Canada and Associations With Key Sociodemographic Characteristics
Author(s) -
Kate Vallance,
Tim Stockwell,
Jinhui Zhao,
Simran Shokar,
Nour Schoueri-Mychasiw,
David Hammond,
Thomas K. Greenfield,
Jonathan McGavock,
Ashini Weerasinghe,
Erin Hobin
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of studies on alcohol and drugs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.026
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1938-4114
pISSN - 1937-1888
DOI - 10.15288/jsad.2020.81.238
Subject(s) - medicine , guideline , environmental health , odds ratio , logistic regression , poison control , injury prevention , suicide prevention , occupational safety and health , human factors and ergonomics , odds , health literacy , baseline (sea) , health care , pathology , oceanography , geology , economics , economic growth
Objective: Evidence-informed alcohol warning labels (AWLs) are a promising, well-targeted strategy to increase consumer awareness of health risks. We assessed consumers’ baseline knowledge of alcohol-related cancer risk, standard drinks, and low-risk drinking guidelines as well as levels of support for AWLs. We further assessed associations with sociodemographic factors. Method: Forming part of a larger study testing new evidence-informed AWLs in a northern Canadian territory compared with a neighboring territory, baseline surveys were completed among liquor store patrons systematically selected in both sites. Chi-square and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to assess outcomes. Results: In total, 836 liquor store patrons (47.8% female) completed baseline surveys across both sites. Overall, there was low knowledge of alcohol-related cancer risk (24.5%), limited ability to calculate a standard drink (29.5%), and low knowledge of daily (49.5%) and weekly (48.2%) low-risk drinking guideline limits. There was moderate support for AWLs with a health warning (55.9%) and standard drink information (51.4%), and lower support for low-risk drinking guideline labels (38.7%). No sociodemographic characteristics were associated with cancer knowledge. Identifying as female and having adequate health literacy were associated with support for all three AWLs; high alcohol use was associated with not supporting standard drink (adjusted odds ratio = 0.60, 95% CI [0.40, 0.88]) and low-risk drinking guideline (adjusted odds ratio = 0.57, 95% CI [0.38, 0.87]) labels. Conclusions: Few consumers in this study had key alcohol-related health knowledge; however, there was moderate support for AWLs as a tool to raise awareness. Implementation of information-based interventions such as evidence-informed AWLs with health messages including alcohol-related cancer risk, standard drink information, and national drinking guidelines is warranted.