Factors Associated with Alcohol Consumption among People in Community of Dong Bang Sub district, Na Dun District, Maha Sarakham Province

Abstract

A cross-sectional design was applied to explore the association between personal factors and frequent drinking of people in Dong Bang community. A total of 406 participants aged 15 years and older were recruited into the study, selected by systematic randomization. Data were collected by questionnaires containing items assessing alcohol drinking behaviors. The reliability for our questionnaire, in which coefficient of Cronbach’s alpha was 0.84. The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistic and Chi-square.

The result of this study revealed that:

1. Thirty-six percent of the participants were current drinking alcohol. Most of them were males, 81.72% were engaged in agriculture and income less than 5,000 baht/month. The most popular alcoholic beverage is beer, followed by white liquor. The frequency of drinking, most of respondents drank 1-2 days/week. The amount of drinking each time, a small amount of drinking (1-1.5 cans of beer or 2-3 caps of liquor) was at 46.3%, followed by a large amount of drinking (5-7 cans of beer or three-quarters of flat liquor) was at 21.10%.

2. The relationship between personal factors: gender, status, educational level, age, occupation, monthly income and alcohol consumption found that differences in sex, status, education level, and occupation were statistically associated with alcohol consumption at 0.05 levels. Age and monthly income of the participants were no statistically associated with alcohol consumption.

The results of this study can be used as a guideline for health care services to reduce alcohol consumption in the area.