Alcohol use in South Sudan in relation to social factors, mental distress and traumatic events

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Edvard Hauff¹  Touraj Ayazi¹  Leslie Swarts²  Lars Lien³  Priscilla Martinez⁴  Arne H. Eide⁵ 

[1] Department of Mental Health and Addiction, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway;Department of Psychology, Alan J. Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa;Department of Public Health, Hedmark University College, Elverum, Norway;National Advisory Board for Dual Diagnosis, Hospital Innlandet Trust, Box 104, 2381, Brumunddal, Norway;Norwegian Center for Addiction Research, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway;SINTEF Technology and Society, Oslo, Norway;

关键词: Alcohol;    AUDIT;    Distress;    Poverty;    Trauma;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-016-3605-9

 received in 2016-01-04, accepted in 2016-08-29,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAlcohol use is a major public health problem with vast implications for poor, war-torn countries. The objective of this study was to describe prevalence of alcohol use and risky drinking across socio-demographic factors in South Sudan, and to determine the association between risky drinking, traumatic events and mental distress.MethodsThis is a randomized, population based, cross-sectional study from the north-western part of South Sudan with nearly 500 participants. We used the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) as main outcome variable, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) for mental distress and five questions to assess traumatic events.ResultsThe mean AUDIT score was 2.7 (SD 0.3) with 14,2 % in the high risk problem drinking category. Being male, lack of a regular income and psychological distress were significantly associated with higher AUDIT score. Traumatic events, however, was not associated with higher score on AUDIT.ConclusionDespite decades of civil war and great poverty the alcohol use in this population was at the same level as other countries in Southern Africa. Traumatic events were not related to risk of problem drinking.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2016