Citation

Pridemore WA. Addiction 2013; 108(11): 1933-1941.

Affiliation

Georgia State University, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Atlanta, GA, 30302. wpridemore@gsu.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/add.12294

PMID

23834236

Abstract

AIMS: To estimate the association between hazardous drinking and suicide among working-age Russian males. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, MEASUREMENTS: Data are from the Izhevsk Family Study (IFS), a population-based case-control study of premature mortality among working-age Russian men. The present study used two sets of cases: all men aged 25-54 years living in Izhevsk who during October 2003-October 2005 (1) died of suicide (n=120) or (2) died of suicide or of injuries of undetermined intent (n=231). Controls were selected at random from a city population register. Drinking data were obtained from proxy informants living in the same household as cases and controls. Drinking exposures were defined by liters of ethanol consumed as a continuous variable, liters of ethanol as a categorical variable, frequency of consumption of non-beverage alcohol (e.g., colognes, medicines, cleaning fluids), and a measure of problem drinking based on behavioral indicators. The association between hazardous drinking and suicide was estimated by mortality odds ratios, adjusting for age, marital status, education, and smoking status. RESULTS: 57% of cases and 20% of controls were problem drinkers. Men who drank 20+ liters of ethanol in the prior year were 2.7 times more likely (95% CI, 1.5-5.0) to die from suicide than moderate drinkers. Men who drank non-beverage alcohols 1-2 times/week were 3.9 times more likely (95% CI, 1.3-11.0) to die from suicide than men who rarely or never drank them. Problem drinkers were 3.7 times more likely (95% CI, 2.5-5.6) to die from suicide relative to non-problem drinkers. 43% of suicides were attributed to hazardous drinking (problem drinking or consuming non-beverage alcohol at least once/week or both). CONCLUSIONS: Hazardous drinking substantially increases the risk of suicide among working-age Russian males, with nearly half of all suicides attributed to this drinking pattern.

Language: en