What do they tell us about drinking cultures in European countries?

Aim: A drinking pattern is not only a major drinking variable, but is also one indicator of a country’s drinking culture. In the present study, we examine drinking patterns within and across the neighbouring countries of Denmark and Germany. The aim of the research is to determine to what extent drinking patterns differ or are shared at the sub-national level in the two countries. Method: Data came from the German 2012 Epidemiological Survey of Substance Use (n = 9084) 18–64 years (response rate 54%), and the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research’s 2011 Danish national survey (n = 5133) 15–79 years (response rate 64%), which was reduced to a common age range, producing a final n = 4016. The drinking pattern variable included abstention, moderate drinking, heavy drinking, risky single occasion drinking (RSOD), and was investigated with bivariate statistics and gender-specific hierarchical cluster analysis. Results: For men three clusters emerged: one highlighting abstention and RSOD, moderate/heavy drinking, RSOD and RSOD + heavy drinking. For women, two clusters appeared: one highlighting abstention and moderate/heavy drinking and the other highlighting RSOD and RSDO + heavy drinking. The clusters revealed different geographical patterning: for men, a west vs. east divide; for women, a north–south gradient. Conclusions: The analysis could identify for each gender clusters representing both separate and shared drinking patterns as well as distinctive geographical placements. This new knowledge can contribute to a new understanding of the dynamics of drinking cultures and could indicate new approaches to prevention efforts and policy initiatives

Psychische Belastung, Alkoholabhängigkeit und Rauchen

Die Prävalenz des Tabakkonsums ist bei Personen mit einer Neigung zur Depression höher als in der Allgemeinbevölkerung. Gleiches gilt für Personen mit einer Erkrankung aus dem schizophrenen Formenkreis. Alkoholabhängige Patienten weisen eine höhere psychische Belastung auf als nichtabhängige Personen. Bislang ungeklärt ist, inwiefern sich die rauchenden von den nichtrauchenden alkoholabhängigen Personen hinsichtlich ihrer psychischen Belastung unterscheiden. Es wurden Daten von 1403 Patienten mit der Hauptdiagnose „Alkoholabhängigkeit“ aus 40 Suchtrehabilitationskliniken zu Beginn der stationären Behandlung erhoben. 84% der Stichprobe sind Raucher. Die Messung der subjektiv empfundenen psychischen Symptombelastung erfolgte mittels der neun Skalen des Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Innerhalb der untersuchten Population der alkoholabhängigen Patienten weisen die zusätzlich rauchenden Patienten in den Bereichen Zwanghaftigkeit (T-Werte: 58 vs. 55), Depressivität (T-Werte: 64 vs. 61), Aggressivität (T-Werte: 59 vs. 55) und Psychotizismus (T-Werte: 63 vs. 59) signifikant höhere Werte auf als die Vergleichsgruppe. Diese Ergebnisse implizieren eine im Durchschnitt höhere Symptombelastung von rauchenden Alkoholpatienten im Vergleich zu nichtrauchenden Patienten. Dies impliziert eine klarere Diagnostik dieser Patientengruppe sowie das Bereitstellen von intensiveren Tabakentwöhnungsmaßnahmen für spezifische Subgruppen von Rauchern. Die Ergebnisse können als mögliche Erklärung herangezogen werden, weshalb diesen Patienten eine Aufgabe des Tabakkonsums besonders schwer fällt. Zu diskutieren bleibt die Richtung der Kausalität

Temporal Changes in Alcohol-Related Morbidity and Mortality in Germany

Aims: Trends in morbidity and mortality, fully or partially attributable to alcohol, for adults aged 18–64 were assessed for Germany. Methods: The underestimation of population exposure was corrected by triangulating survey data with per capita consumption. Alcohol-attributable fractions by sex and two age groups were estimated for major disease categories causally linked to alcohol. Absolute numbers, population rates and proportions relative to all hospitalizations and deaths were calculated. Results: Trends of 100% alcohol-attributable morbidity and mortality over thirteen and eighteen years, respectively, show an increase in rates of hospitalizations and a decrease in mortality rates. Comparisons of alcohol-attributable morbidity including diseases partially caused by alcohol revealed an increase in hospitalization rates between 2006 and 2012. The proportion of alcohol-attributable hospitalizations remained constant. Rates of alcohol-attributable mortality and the proportion among all deaths decreased. Conclusions: The increasing trend in mortality due to alcohol until the mid-1990s has reversed. The constant proportion of all hospitalizations that were attributable to alcohol indicates that factors such as improved treatment and easier health care access may have influenced the general increase in all-cause morbidity. To further reduce alcohol-related mortality, efforts in reducing consumption and increasing treatment utilization are needed

Patterns of multiple lifestyle risk factors and their link to mental health in the German adult population: a cross-sectional study

Objectives Lifestyle risk factors, such as drinking or unhealthy diet, can expotentiate detrimental health effects. Therefore, it is important to investigate multiple lifestyle risk factors instead of single ones. The study aims at: (1) identifying patterns of lifestyle risk factors within the adult general population in Germany and (2) examining associations between the extracted patterns and external factors. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting General German adult population (aged 18-64 years). Participants Participants of the 2015 Epidemiological Survey of Substance Abuse (n=9204). Primary outcome measures Lifestyle risk factors (daily smoking, at-risk alcohol consumption, unhealthy diet, low physical activity, weekly use of pharmaceuticals, as well as consumption of cannabis and other illicit drugs). Results A latent class analysis was applied to identify patterns of lifestyle risk factors, and a multinomial logistic regression was carried out to examine associations between the extracted classes and external factors. A total of four classes were extracted which can be described as healthy lifestyle (58.5%), drinking lifestyle (24.4%), smoking lifestyle (15.4%) and a cumulate risk factors lifestyle (1.7%). Individuals who were male, at younger age and single as well as individuals with various mental health problems were more likely to show multiple lifestyle risk factors. Conclusions Healthcare professionals should be aware of correlations between different lifestyle risk factors as well as between lifestyle risk groups and mental health. Health promotion strategies should further focus especially on younger and single men

Tabakkonsum bei Jugendlichen und erwachsenen Risikopopulationen. Einflussfaktoren und Ansätze zu Prävention und Intervention: Tabakkonsum bei Jugendlichen und erwachsenen Risikopopulationen.Einflussfaktoren und Ansätze zu Prävention und Intervention

Tabakkonsum bei Jugendlichen und erwachsenen Risikopopulationen. Einflussfaktoren und Ansätze zu Prävention und Intervention Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit den Einflussfaktoren des Tabakkonsums bei verschiedenen Zielgruppen sowie möglichen Ansätzen zur nachhaltigen Beeinflussung des Rauchverhaltens. Die Arbeit besteht aus insgesamt sechs Manuskripten, die in nationalen und internationalen Fachzeitschriften publiziert oder zur Publikation angenommen sind. Diese sechs Beiträge lassen sich zwei Schwerpunkten zuordnen, die inhaltlich die zwei wichtigsten Möglichkeiten zur Reduktion des Tabakkonsums in der Bevölkerung widerspiegeln: die Verhinderung des Neueinstiegs in das Rauchen bei Kindern und Jugendlichen (Prävention) sowie die Förderung des Ausstiegs aus dem Rauchen (Intervention). Im ersten Teil wird im Rahmen eines Reviews sowie zweier Studien untersucht, ob sich verhältnispräventive Maßnahmen an Schulen auf das Rauchverhalten der Schüler auswirken. Im zweiten Teil untersuchen drei Studien die Motivation zur Verhaltensänderung, die Inanspruchnahme von Hilfsangeboten bzw. die Effektivität von Tabakentwöhnung bei Rauchern mit einer Alkoholabhängigkeit, Müttern in der Mutter-Kind-Rehabilitation sowie Patienten mit tabakassoziierten körperlichen Erkrankungen.„Smoking in adolescents and adult risk populations. Factors of influence and approaches concerning prevention and intervention” This dissertation is concerned with factors influencing the smoking behaviour of different target groups and potential approaches for lasting changes of these behaviours. The dissertation consists of six manuscripts that are published or accepted for publication in national and international peer-reviewed journals. These six papers refer to two main emphases that reflect the two most important possibilities to reduce tobacco consumption in the population: Prevention of smoking initiation in children and adolescents (prevention), and support for smoking cessation (intervention). In the first part of the dissertation, a literature review and two empirical studies assess the influence of school tobacco policies on the smoking behaviour of students. In the second part, three empirical papers examine motivation to change, utilisation and effectiveness of smoking cessation in smokers with an alcohol dependence, mothers in mother-child rehabilitation and patients with smoking-related physical diseases