Citation

Taylor M, Knox J, Chhagan MK, Kauchali S, Kvalsvig J, Mellins CA, Arpadi SM, Craib MH, Davidson LL. Matern. Child Health J. 2016; 20(11): 2392-2401.

Affiliation

Department of Pediatrics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 630 W 168 St, New York, 10032, NY, USA. lld1@columbia.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10995-016-2066-1

PMID

27491526

Abstract

Background and Objectives Alcohol abuse, a significant health problem in South Africa, affects the ability of adults to care for children. Little is known regarding risky alcohol use among child caregivers there. A large population-based study examined the prevalence of, and factors associated with, risky drinking among caregivers of young children in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa comparing the use of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and the AUDIT-C screens for hazardous or harmful drinking (referred to here as risky drinking).

METHODS 83 % of child caregivers from five tribal areas were interviewed using the 10-question AUDIT to screen for risky drinking. The AUDIT-C screen, a subset of AUDIT questions, targets alcohol consumption and binge drinking. Factors associated with risky drinking were investigated using logistic regression.

RESULTS 1434 caregivers participated, 98 % female. Sixteen percent reported ever drinking alcohol. Based on AUDIT criteria for risky drinking, 13 % of the sample scored as moderate drinkers, 2 % as hazardous users, and 1 % as harmful or dependent users (identifying 3 % as risky drinkers). Using AUDIT-C criteria to identify risky drinking significantly increased the proportion of caregivers identified as risky drinkers to 9 %. In multivariate analyses, factors associated with risky drinking were similar in both screens: partner violence, smoking, HIV-infection, caring for a child with disabilities.

CONCLUSIONS for Practice Since the AUDIT-C identified risky alcohol use not otherwise detected with the full AUDIT, and since resources for screening in health care settings is limited, the AUDIT-C may be a more appropriate screen in populations where binge drinking is common.

Language: en