Excessive alcohol drinking among inhabitants aged 15 years or older in Xuzhou city, 2008

ObjectiveTo assess excessive alcohol drinking among inhabitants in Xuzhou city and to provide evidence for health education and behavior intervention.MethodsFrom June to December 2008,a representative sample was selected with multi-stage randomized cluster sampling among inhabitants aged 15 years or older and investigated with a self-designed questionnaire.Results Totally 44 791 inhabitants were investigated(21 524 male and 23 267 female,34 391 from rural areas and 10 400 from urban areas).The prevalence rate of excessive alcohol drinking among the inhabitants was 11.65% with a standardized excessive drinking rate of 12.35%.The excessive drinking rates of the males and females were 22.67% and 1.46%,with a signicantly higher rate in the males(P<0.01).There was no significant difference in excessive drinking rate between urban inhabitants(11.19%)and rural inhabitants(11.79%)(P>0.05).There were significant differences in the excessive drinking rates among populations with different education level,job,and income.ConclusionThe adult inhibitants of Xuzhou city have a high prevalence of excessive alcohol drinking and the intervention on alcohol drinking should be promoted especially among male,middle-aged inhibitants and the inhibitants with higher education or income.