Sunday, July 11th, 2010 at
9:03 pm
Prevalence of alcohol and drug use in a highly educated workforce.
This study examined alcohol and licit and illicit drug use in a highly educated medical related workforce.
A comprehensive health survey of a 10% random sample of a workforce (n = 8,567) yielded a 60% response rate (n = 504) after accounting for 15 undeliverable surveys.
- Many respondents reported past-year use of alcohol (87%).
- Thirteen percent of respondents consumed three or more drinks daily; 15% were binge drinkers.
- Twelve percent of the workforce was assessed as having a high likelihood of lifetime alcohol dependence;
- 5% of respondents met criteria for current problem drinking.
- Overall, 42% reported using mood-altering prescription drugs (analgesics, antidepressants, sedatives, or tranquilizers).
- Eleven percent reported using illicit drugs (cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin, or marijuana) in the past year.
Significant relationships were found between gender, age, ethnicity, and occupation with some measures of alcohol consumption and use of mood-altering drugs.
These results indicate prevention and early intervention programs need to address use of mood-altering substances (including alcohol) in highly educated workforces.
Research; J Behav Health Serv Res. ;29(1):30-44. Prevalence of alcohol and drug use in a highly educated workforce. Matano RA, Wanat SF, Westrup D, Koopman C, Whitsell SD.
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Sunday, December 28th, 2008 at
12:15 am
Research Summary; Unsafe sex by people infected with HIV poses a grave public health risk. To examine whether alcohol use increases the likelihood of unsafe sex in people with HIV, investigators interviewed 262 patients from 2 HIV clinics. Alcohol consumption measures assessed use in the past 6 months and included drinking days, drinks per drinking day, binge drinking,* and hazardous drinking.**
In the past 6 months, 63 percent of patients had been sexually active,
- 38 percent had unprotected sex (i.e., no condom), and
- 21 percent had multiple sex partners.
All alcohol consumption measures were significantly associated with the likelihood of having any sex (odds ratios ranging from 1.5 to 2.9) and of having unprotected sex (odds ratios ranging from 1.4 to 2.7).
One-third of hazardous drinkers — compared with 9 percent of nonhazardous drinkers — were having both unprotected sex and sex with multiple partners.
Heroin and cocaine use did not significantly affect the likelihood of having any or unprotected sex.
Comments by Jeffrey Samet, MD, MA, MPH:
This study demonstrates a clear association between alcohol use and unsafe sex in patients infected with HIV. As the authors note, determining the basis of this association (e.g., risk-taking personality, lowered sexual inhibitions due to alcohol) requires studies that demonstrate the relationship between the two behaviors. Nevertheless, these findings support the case for assessing alcohol use among all patients with HIV.
- * 5 or more drinks per day for men, 3 or more drinks per day for women
** at least 1 binge episode, or greater than 14 drinks per week for men and greater than 7 drinks per week for women
- Reference: Stein M, Herman DS, Trisvan E, et al. Alcohol use and sexual risk behavior among human immunodeficiency virus-positive persons. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2005; 29(5): 837-843.
From; Join Together Online
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