Non-Alcoholics Still at Risk for Drinking Problems

Ivanhoe Newswire
Friday, January 26, 2007; 12:00 AM

By Betsy Lievense, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Binge drinkers, beware! Alcoholics aren't the only ones at risk for alcohol-related problems.

Although many associate alcoholism with excessive drinking, this is not always the case. A new study reveals alcohol-dependent individuals make up the smallest portion of "excessive drinkers" in the general population, which means binge drinkers and heavy drinkers could be at risk for adverse consequences often associated with alcoholism. These consequences include death from injury, violence, suicide, certain types of cancer, and cirrhosis of the liver.

"The substantial majority of people who are at increased risk of alcohol-related problems from their drinking are actually not alcoholics or not alcohol dependent," Timothy Naimi, M.D., M.P.H., a public health physician for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Ivanhoe.

Researchers from the New Mexico Department of Health used results from the 2002 New Mexico Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (NMBRFSS) to assess the prevalence of alcohol dependence in excessive drinkers living in New Mexico. The survey divided participants into four categories based on their responses:

Binge drinkers (those who consumed five or more drinks on one occasion in the last 30 days)

Heavy drinkers (men who consumed more than two drinks or women who consumed more than one drink daily)

Alcohol-dependent (those who were reached the DSM-IV's dependence criteria and consumed six or more drinks in the last year)

Alcohol-impaired drivers (those who reported driving after having too much to drink)

Of the approximately 16.5 percent of respondents who fit the criteria for excessive drinking, 14.4 percent considered themselves binge drinkers. Binge drinking may also play a role in drunk driving, because 83.7 percent of impaired drivers also admitted to binge drinking. Alcohol dependence proved to be the least prevalent form of excessive drinking, accounting for only 10.7 percent of excessive drinkers. Alcoholism was highest in 18 to 24 year olds, males, non-whites, and those with a college education.