Awareness and Practice Regarding Alcohol Consumption among Females in Rural Areas of Nepal

Abstract

Consuming alcohol is defined as ingesting alcoholic beverages that include ethyl alcohol, such as wine, beer, whiskey, rum, and handmade alcoholic beverages called "Raksi." Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to serious health issues. Thus, this study aimed to assess the awareness regarding alcohol consumption among females in rural areas of Nepal. A cross-sectional and analytical study was designed to assess the level of awareness and practice regarding alcohol consumption. Total 423 females of the 20-50 years age groups, engaged in “Raksi '' preparation sites were selected. The data collection period was from 2021 July to 2022. A face-to-face interview was done with each individual. All questions related to awareness and practice regarding questionnaires were analyzed accordingly in univariate analysis and bi-variate analysis to find out the association between the variables. The result showed that the mean age of the females was 36.08 with a standard deviation of 7.951. and 51.7% were below the mean age of 36. Among 423 females 22.3 % knew AUD, 56.7% were aware of health consequences, and only 13.3% were aware of treatment protocol of health consequences. Females having inappropriate practices of alcohol consumption were 54.2%. There is an association between awareness regarding consumption and religion, marital status, educational status, and occupation with p=0.043, 0.036, 0.046, and 0.033 respectively. Similarly, the inappropriate practice of alcohol consumption has a significant relation with religion, educational status, and occupation with p values of 0.049,0.034, and 0.003 respectively. Even though there is a higher percentage of females were literate, there is a lack of awareness regarding alcohol consumption and inappropriate drinking habits. Further comparative study can be done in this aspect. Simultaneously, awareness and education-related programs can be implemented to address the problem.