ASSESSMENT OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AMONG ADULTS IN URBAN AND RURAL AREAS OF PHA-AN TOWNSHIP MYANMAR

Abstract

Alcohol drinking is the most common risk behavior in modern world and it can create the burden of diseases for our health care system. This cross sectional study was carried out to assess the alcohol consumption among the adults in urban and rural areas of Pha-An Township, Myanmar which is a capital city of Karen State. Method: The data collection was done by face to face interview by using structured questionnaire to both urban (264 participants) and rural (114 participants). The data collection was conducted in four wards from urban areas and two villages from rural areas. Data were analyzed by using Chi-square test. Results: The results indicated that 56.9% (215 participants) has alcohol drinking and among the drinkers, 67 participants ( 31.1% of alcohol drinkers ) has the binge drinking practice and it is most common in the age group of 25-44 years and more common in male than female. Half of the alcohol drinkers are low risk drinkers and 11.6% was hazardous drinkers. The overall alcohol drinking is also highest in that age group of 25-44 years and higher in male than in female. Almost half of the participants started alcohol drinking between 1 and 19 years and most common type of alcohol for their first time drinking was palm tree juice (54.4%). Several socio-demographic characteristics and couple of environmental contexts are associated with alcohol drinking. Conclusion: It was concluded that alcohol drinking was most common in male than female and age group of 25 to 44 years is the group with highest number of alcohol drinkers. Binge drinkers contributed 17.7% of total participants. Recommendation: It is strongly recommended to carry out more research to study more detail about binge drinking and also more detail about alcohol. Awareness for the hazards of alcohol drinking and binge drinking should be promoted.