{"title":"Unveiling binge drinking trends and triggers among army personnel: a cross sectional study.","authors":"Lakna Vajiramali Jayasinghe, Shamini Prathapan, Saveen Semage","doi":"10.1186/s13011-025-00655-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Military populations are known to have higher prevalence and heavier alcohol use compared to the general population globally. This has serious negative implications to the military. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence, patterns and associated factors of binge drinking among male military personnel in the Sri Lanka Army.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A cross sectional study was conducted among 1337 male Army personnel in active service using multistage sampling. A self-administered questionnaire and the interviewer-administered Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test which is a 10-item screening tool were used. Prevalence of binge drinking was summarised as a proportion with 95% Confidence Intervals (CI). Age specific prevalence rates and the age standardized prevalence rate of binge drinking were calculated. The standard measure of one unit of alcohol being equivalent to 10 g of pure alcohol was used as a reference to calculate the units of alcohol consumption. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with binge drinking.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The overall prevalence of binge drinking was 51.2% (95% CI 48.5%-54.0%). The age standardized prevalence of binge drinking was 28.3%. The majority binge drank once a month (50.4%). Those engaged in binge drinking used 5.6 median units of alcohol on a typical day, 84% consumed arrack, 69.3% have ever thought or attempted to quit and median age of first alcohol consumption was 18 years. When controlled for confounding, those who had mental distress (AOR 2.46, 95% CI = 1.72-3.53), had sex with a commercial sex worker (AOR 1.92, 95% CI = 1.21-3.06), ever smoking (AOR 1.69, 95% CI = 1.27-2.25), had serious consequences (AOR 1.58, 95% CI = 1.13-2.20), currently used cannabis (AOR 1.39, 95% CI = 1.02-1.89) and had combat exposure (AOR 1.37, 95% CI 1.00-1.87) had a higher likelihood of binge drinking.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The high prevalence of binge drinking warrants immediate advocacy to the highest level of command of the Sri Lanka Army for support to implement sustainable evidence-based alcohol prevention programmes.</p>","PeriodicalId":22041,"journal":{"name":"Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy","volume":"20 1","pages":"38"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12487522/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13011-025-00655-9","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"SUBSTANCE ABUSE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Military populations are known to have higher prevalence and heavier alcohol use compared to the general population globally. This has serious negative implications to the military. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence, patterns and associated factors of binge drinking among male military personnel in the Sri Lanka Army.
Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 1337 male Army personnel in active service using multistage sampling. A self-administered questionnaire and the interviewer-administered Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test which is a 10-item screening tool were used. Prevalence of binge drinking was summarised as a proportion with 95% Confidence Intervals (CI). Age specific prevalence rates and the age standardized prevalence rate of binge drinking were calculated. The standard measure of one unit of alcohol being equivalent to 10 g of pure alcohol was used as a reference to calculate the units of alcohol consumption. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with binge drinking.
Results: The overall prevalence of binge drinking was 51.2% (95% CI 48.5%-54.0%). The age standardized prevalence of binge drinking was 28.3%. The majority binge drank once a month (50.4%). Those engaged in binge drinking used 5.6 median units of alcohol on a typical day, 84% consumed arrack, 69.3% have ever thought or attempted to quit and median age of first alcohol consumption was 18 years. When controlled for confounding, those who had mental distress (AOR 2.46, 95% CI = 1.72-3.53), had sex with a commercial sex worker (AOR 1.92, 95% CI = 1.21-3.06), ever smoking (AOR 1.69, 95% CI = 1.27-2.25), had serious consequences (AOR 1.58, 95% CI = 1.13-2.20), currently used cannabis (AOR 1.39, 95% CI = 1.02-1.89) and had combat exposure (AOR 1.37, 95% CI 1.00-1.87) had a higher likelihood of binge drinking.
Conclusions: The high prevalence of binge drinking warrants immediate advocacy to the highest level of command of the Sri Lanka Army for support to implement sustainable evidence-based alcohol prevention programmes.
背景:众所周知,与全球普通人群相比,军人人群的酒精患病率更高,酒精使用量也更大。这对军队产生了严重的负面影响。本研究的目的是描述斯里兰卡军队男性军事人员酗酒的患病率、模式和相关因素。方法:采用多阶段抽样方法,对1337名现役男性军人进行横断面调查。使用了一份自我填写的问卷和访谈者填写的酒精使用障碍识别测试,这是一个包含10个项目的筛选工具。狂欢饮酒的患病率以95%置信区间(CI)的比例总结。计算酗酒的年龄特定患病率和年龄标准化患病率。以一单位酒精相当于10克纯酒精的标准计量作为参考,计算酒精消耗量的单位。采用二元logistic回归分析确定与酗酒相关的因素。结果:酗酒的总体患病率为51.2% (95% CI 48.5%-54.0%)。酗酒的年龄标准化患病率为28.3%。大多数人每月暴饮一次(50.4%)。酗酒者平均每天饮酒5.6个单位,84%饮酒,69.3%曾经想过或试图戒烟,第一次饮酒的平均年龄为18岁。当对混杂因素进行控制时,那些有精神困扰(AOR 2.46, 95% CI = 1.72-3.53)、与商业性工作者发生性关系(AOR 1.92, 95% CI = 1.21-3.06)、曾经吸烟(AOR 1.69, 95% CI = 1.27-2.25)、有严重后果(AOR 1.58, 95% CI = 1.13-2.20)、目前使用大麻(AOR 1.39, 95% CI = 1.02-1.89)和有战斗暴露(AOR 1.37, 95% CI 1.00-1.87)的人更有可能酗酒。结论:酗酒的高流行率需要立即向斯里兰卡军队最高领导层宣传,以支持实施可持续的循证酒精预防规划。
期刊介绍:
Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that encompasses research concerning substance abuse, with a focus on policy issues. The journal aims to provide an environment for the exchange of ideas, new research, consensus papers, and critical reviews, to bridge the established fields that share a mutual goal of reducing the harms from substance use. These fields include: legislation pertaining to substance use; correctional supervision of people with substance use disorder; medical treatment and screening; mental health services; research; and evaluation of substance use disorder programs.