Abstract
Aim
Alcohol consumption on an aggregate level rose by 30 percent in Sweden between 1996 and 2004 according to available research. However, alcohol-related harm has not increased as much as expected. The purpose of this study is to analyze how the self-reported alcohol consumption changed between 1996 and 2005.
Data
Self-reported alcohol consumption was investigated with four identical surveys implemented by Statistics Sweden, 1996 (n = 5891, response rate 78.7 %), 1997 (n = 5807, response rate 77.8 %), 2004 (n = 5591, response rate 74.8 %) and 2006 (4277, response rate 75.1 %). In addition to weekly volume of alcohol consumption, we have data on beverage specific consumption, daily alcohol consumption for the different days of the week, frequency of binge drinking and several background variables of good quality.
Results
Self-reported alcohol consumption rose between 96/97 and 04/05, but only with 15 percent. The increase was relatively evenly distributed but women, older people and low to middle consumer groups increased their consumption the most. The frequency of binge drinking also increased as did the proportion of alcohol consumed during the weekend.
Conclusions
The increase in alcohol consumption was smaller in our study than the increase reported earlier. A few changes in the consumption pattern that could explain a diverging trend between the total alcohol consumption and alcohol related harms were found.