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Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access originally published online on August 22, 2008
Alcohol and Alcoholism 2008 43(6):692-697; doi:10.1093/alcalc/agn070
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Medical Council on Alcohol. All rights reserved

Who Drinks Most of the Total Alcohol in Young Men—Risky Single Occasion Drinking as Normative Behaviour

Gerhard Gmel1,2,3*, Jacques Gaume1, Mohamed Faouzi1, Jean-Pierre Kulling4 and Jean-Bernard Daeppen1

1 Alcohol Treatment Center, Lausanne University Hospital CHUV, CH-1011 Lausanne, Switzerland
2 Swiss Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Problems, PO Box 870, Lausanne, Switzerland
3 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
4 Swiss Army Recruitment Center 1 Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

* Corresponding author: Alcohol Treatment Center, Lausanne University Hospital CHUV, CH-1011 Lausanne, Switzerland. Tel.: +41-21-3147352; Fax: +41-21-3147352; E-mail: gerhard.gmel{at}chuv.ch

Received 19 March 2008; first review notified 1 May 2008; in revised form 28 July 2008; accepted 31 July 2008; advance access publication 22 August 2008


  Abstract

Aims: The objectives of this study were to analyse (a) the distribution of risky single-occasion drinking (RSOD) among 19-year-old men in Switzerland and (b) to show the percentage of all alcohol consumption in the form of RSOD. Methods: The study was based on a census of Swiss francophone 19-year-old men consecutively reporting for processing. The study was conducted at Army Recruitment Center. The participants were 4116 recruits consecutively enrolling for mandatory army recruitment procedures between 23 January and 29 August in 2007. The measures were alcohol consumption measured in drinks of ~10 g of pure alcohol, number of drinking occasions with six or more drinks (RSOD) in the past 12 months and a retrospective 1 week drinking diary. Results: 264 recruits were never seen by the research staff, 3536 of the remaining 3852 conscripts completed a questionnaire which showed that 7.2% abstained from alcohol and 75.5% of those drinking had an RSOD day at least monthly. The typical frequency of drinking was 1–3 days per week on weekends. The average quantity on weekends was about seven drinks, 69.3% of the total weekly consumption was in the form of RSOD days, and of all the alcohol consumed, 96.2% was by drinkers who had RSOD days at least once a month. Conclusion: Among young men, RSOD constitutes the norm. Prevention consequently must address the total population and not only high-risk drinkers.


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R. Muller
What Are Appropriate Prevention Strategies, When Risky Single Occasion Drinking Is the Norm in the Young?: Comment on Gmel et al. "Who drinks most of the total alcohol in young men: risky single occasion drinking as normative behaviour," this issue, pages 692--697
Alcohol Alcohol., November 1, 2008; 43(6): 612 - 613.
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