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Citation
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Stockwell T, Zhao J, Greenfield T, Li J, Livingston M, Meng Y. Addiction 2016; 111(7): 1203-1213. |
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Abstract
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BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Questions about drinking " yesterday" have been used to correct under-reporting of typical alcohol consumption in surveys. We use this method to explore patterns of over- and under-reporting of drinking quantity and frequency by population sub-groups in four countries.
DESIGN: Multivariate linear regression analyses comparing estimates of typical quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption with and without adjustments using the Yesterday method. Setting and participants Survey respondents in Australia (n = 26,648), Canada (n = 43,370), USA (n = 7,969) and England (n = 8,610). MEASUREMENTS: Estimates of typical drinking quantities and frequencies over the past year plus quantity of alcohol consumed the previous day.
FINDINGS: Typical frequency was underestimated by less frequent drinkers in each country. For example, after adjustment for design effects and age, Australian males self reporting drinking "less than once a month" were estimated to have in fact drunk an average of 14.70 (±0.59) days in the past year compared with the standard assumption of 6 days (t = 50.5, p < 0.001). Drinking quantity " yesterday" was not significantly different overall from self-reported typical quantities over the past year in Canada, USA and England but slightly lower in Australia (e.g. 2.66 vs 3.04 drinks, t = 20.4, p < 0.01 for women).
CONCLUSIONS: People who describe themselves as less frequent drinkers appear substantially to under-report their drinking frequency, but country and sub-group specific corrections can be estimated. Detailed questions using the Yesterday method can correct under-reporting of quantity of drinking.
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Language: en |