Men's decrease and women's increase in harmful alcohol use from the 2014 to 2018 national surveys in Taiwan: A harbinger for an emerging national trend in East Asia?

Yu-Chieh Huang; Shang-Chi Wu; Po-Chang Hsiao; Lian-Yu Chen; Te-Tien Ting; Chuan-Yu Chen; Chia-Lin Catherine Kuan; Yu-Kang Tu; Jiun-Hau Huang; Cheng-Fang Yen; Hao-Jan Yang; Chung-Yi Li; Chia-Feng Yen; Wei J Chen

doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103441

Men's decrease and women's increase in harmful alcohol use from the 2014 to 2018 national surveys in Taiwan: A harbinger for an emerging national trend in East Asia?

Int J Drug Policy. 2022 Jan:99:103441. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103441. Epub 2021 Sep 6.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 17 Xu-Zhou Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
² Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 17 Xu-Zhou Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan; Department of Addiction Psychiatry and Kunming Prevention and Control Center, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ School of Big Data Management, Soochow University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 17 Xu-Zhou Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan; Institute of Public Health, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan; Center for Neuropsychiatric Research, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli County, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁶ Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 17 Xu-Zhou Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Institute of Health Behaviors and Community Sciences, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁸ Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital & School of Medicine and Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁹ Department of Public Health, College of Health Care and Management, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
¹¹ Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
¹² Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 17 Xu-Zhou Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Center for Neuropsychiatric Research, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli County, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 34503897
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103441

Abstract

Background: Gender differences in alcohol use have narrowed in Western societies, but that in Asia has been less investigated. By comparing the 2014 and 2018 waves of the national survey in Taiwan, we aimed to examine the gender differences in population trends in past-month alcohol use, binge drinking, and harmful alcohol use.

Methods: The national survey enrolled 17,837 participants in 2014 and 18,626 participants in 2018. Binge drinking was defined as having ≥5 drinks on one occasion in the past month, and harmful alcohol use as having an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test score of ≥8.

Results: There were significant decreases from 2014 to 2018 in the population's prevalence of past-month alcohol use, binge drinking, and harmful alcohol use. However, males and females had different trends: males showed significant reductions in all three alcohol use behaviours (a decrease of 3.79%, 1.59%, and 2.60%, respectively), while females exhibited a significant rise in harmful alcohol use (from 1.32% to 1.72%), particularly among those aged 18-29 years.

Conclusion: There was gender convergence in alcohol use in Taiwan, mainly due to men's decrease and women's increase in harmful alcohol use. Our findings have important implications for the intervention and prevention of the problematic use of alcohol in East Asia.

Keywords: Alcohol use; Alcohol use disorders identification test; Binge drinking; Gender differences; Harmful alcohol use; Survey; Taiwan; Trends.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Alcohol Drinking / epidemiology
Alcoholism* / epidemiology
Binge Drinking* / epidemiology
Ethanol
Female
Humans
Male
Sex Factors
Taiwan / epidemiology

Substances

Ethanol