epidemiology

Last reviewed 01/2018

epidemiology

According to the Alcohol Needs Assessment Research Project carried out in the general population of England:

• around 38% of men and 16% of women (26% overall) have an alcohol use disorder
• 32% of men and 15% of women were hazardous or harmful alcohol users (23% overall). This equates to 7.1 million people in England. There were 21% of men and 9% of women classified as binge drinkers
• hazardous and harmful drinking are commonly encountered among people attending hospital for reasons unrelated to alcohol; approximately 20% of patients admitted to hospital for illnesses unrelated to alcohol are drinking at potentially hazardous levels (2)
• 6% of men and 2% of women have alcohol dependency, overall 3.6%  which equates to 1.1 million people with alcohol dependence nationally
• alcohol dependence affects 4% of people aged between 16 and 65
• there was a decline in all alcohol use disorders with age.
• there was considerable regional variation in the levels of alcohol use disorders. The prevalence of hazardous and harmful drinking varied from 18 per cent (Eastern region) to 29% (North West region), with some differences between men and women. In relation to alcohol dependence, there was also considerable variation between regions - from 1.6% (East Midlands) to 5.2% (North East and Yorkshire and Humber). The regions with the highest prevalence of hazardous and harmful drinking were different from those with the highest prevalence of alcohol dependence (1)

Reference:

• (1) The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) 2006. Review of the Effectiveness of Treatment for Alcohol Problems
• (2) NICE (June 2010). Alcohol use disorders