Prevalence of alcohol drinking and influencing factors in female adults in China, 2010-2012

Objective To understand the prevalence of alcohol drinking and influencing factors in female adults in China. Methods At the 150 survey sites where 2010-2012 Chinese nutrition and health surveillance was conducted, a face to face questionnaire survey was conducted in female adults selected through multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling. Sample weights was assigned to each participant based on the study design by using national population census data in 2009. The complex sampling and unconditional multivariate logistics regression analysis was conducted to identify the influencing factors for the prevalence of alcohol drinking in the female adults. Results A total of 75 518 participants were included in this study. The prevalence of drinking in female adults was 13.9% (95%CI: 11.7-16.2) in urban area and 13.3% (95%CI: 9.4-17.2) in rural area. The prevalence of frequent drinking was 13.9% (95%CI: 9.9-17.9) in women in urban area and 14.2% (95%CI: 10.8-17.6) in women in rural area. The prevalence of excessive drinking was 11.1% (95%CI: 7.5-14.8) in women in urban area and 12.8% (95%CI: 9.1-16.4) in women in rural area. The prevalence of wine drinking in women in urban area was significantly higher than in women in rural and had positive correlation with income and education levels. The social and economic factors influencing drinking behavior of the female adults included occupation, drinking behaviors of family members and smoking behavior. Those who were engaged in agriculture, production and transportation (OR=OJ2, 95%CI: 0.56-0.94, P=0.016), housework (OR=0.59, 95%CI: 0.44-0.78, P>0.001) and other work (OR=0.61, 95%CI: 0.43-0.85, P=0.004) had lower drinking prevalence. Whereas those whose family members had drinking behavior (OR=2.66, 95%CI: 2.17-3.26, P>0.001) and those who were current smokers (OR=4.32, 95%CI: 2.95-6.34, P>0.01) had higher drinking prevalence. Conclusions The prevalence of drinking, frequent alcohol drinking and excessive drinking were relatively low in female adults in China. Occupation, drinking behaviors of family members and smoking behavior were the main factors influencing the prevalence drinking behavior in female adults in China.