Table 2.
Prevalence and patterns of alcohol consumption at baseline (2004–2008) and resurvey (2013–2014), by sex
| Men | Women | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline | Resurvey | Baseline | Resurvey | |
| Overall | ||||
| Number of participants | 210,259 | 9569 | 302,632 | 15,427 |
| Drinking categories, % | ||||
| Abstainer | 20.4 | 34.9 | 63.6 | 82.0 |
| Ex-weekly | 3.8 | 6.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 |
| Reduced-intake | 4.9 | 3.8 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Occasional | 37.7 | 26.4 | 33.5 | 14.9 |
| Current weekly | 33.2 | 28.6 | 2.1 | 1.9 |
| Among current weekly drinkers | ||||
| Number of participants | 69,904 | 2732 | 6248 | 292 |
| Types consumed^, % | ||||
| Strong spirit (≥40% alcohol) only | 41.5 | 41.8 | 47.6 | 39.4 |
| Weak spirit (< 40% alcohol) only | 19.8 | 16.0 | 11.4 | 12.0 |
| Beer only | 20.1 | 13.5 | 22.6 | 12.3 |
| Rice wine or grape wine only | 11.0 | 12.3 | 15.7 | 27.1 |
| Mixed | 7.7 | 16.3 | 2.7 | 9.2 |
| Mean consumption, g/session^ | 49.9 | 55.6 | 22.7 | 24.1 |
| Number of drinking days per week, % | ||||
| 1–2 | 19.9 | 14.9 | 33.1 | 21.9 |
| 3–5 | 18.0 | 14.0 | 21.6 | 15.4 |
| 6–7 | 62.1 | 71.1 | 45.2 | 62.7 |
| Types consumed on special occasions, % | ||||
| Strong spirit (≥40% alcohol) only | 35.7 | 35.8 | 41.4 | 33.9 |
| Weak spirit (< 40% alcohol) only | 16.3 | 14.7 | 9.9 | 10.6 |
| Beer only | 10.9 | 8.4 | 16.7 | 11.0 |
| Rice wine or grape wine only | 6.6 | 9.3 | 12.3 | 25.7 |
| Mixed | 30.5 | 31.8 | 19.6 | 18.8 |
| Mean consumption on special occasions, g/occasion | 147.4 | 116.3 | 55.1 | 41.3 |
| Drinking patterns, % | ||||
| Drinking outside meal. | 14.1 | 17.6 | 13.8 | 20.9 |
| Heavy episodic drinking^a | 29.8 | 34.7 | 18.2 | 17.8 |
| Heavy episodic drinking on special occasionsa | 83.6 | 72.9 | 57.1 | 43.8 |
| Problem drinking indicator(s)b | 23.9 | 23.8 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| Flushing response after drinking | 17.9 | 15.5 | 23.6 | 13.7 |
| Mean age started weekly drinking | 28.7 | 29.3 | 37.7 | 40.4 |
aHeavy drinking episode is defined as drinking > 60 g of pure alcohol in one session for men and > 40 g for women
bReporting one or more in the past month of: drinking in the morning; unable to work or do anything due to drinking; depressed, irritated or lost control due to drinking; couldn’t stop drinking; had shakes when stopped drinking
^Based on alcohol intake data reported on the last time the participants drank