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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Addict Behav. 2019 Sep 16;102:106128. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.106128

The epidemiology of alcohol use disorders cross-nationally: Findings from the World Mental Health Surveys

Meyer D Glantz 1, Chrianna Bharat 1, Louisa Degenhardt 1, Nancy A Sampson 1, Kate M Scott 1, Carmen CW Lim 1, Ali Al-Hamzawi 1, Jordi Alonso 1, Laura Helena Andrade 1, Graca Cardoso 1, Giovanni De Girolamo 1, Oye Gureje 1, Yanling He 1, Hristo Hinkov 1, Elie G Karam 1, Georges Karam 1, Viviane Kovess-Masfety 1, Victor Lasebikan 1, Sing Lee 1, Daphna Levinson 1, John McGrath 1, Maria-Elena Medina-Mora 1, Constanta Mihaescu-Pintia 1, Zeina Mneimneh 1, Jacek Moskalewicz 1, Fernando Navarro-Mateu 1, José Posada-Villa 1, Charlene Rapsey 1, Juan Carlos Stagnaro 1, Hisateru Tachimori 1, Margreet Ten Have 1, Nathan Tintle 1, Yolanda Torres 1, David R Williams 1, Yuval Ziv 1, Ronald C Kessler 1, WHO World Mental Health Survey Collaborators
PMCID: PMC7416527  NIHMSID: NIHMS1615482  PMID: 31865172

Abstract

Background

Prevalences of Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) and Mental Health Disorders (MHDs) in many individual countries have been reported but there are few cross-national studies. The WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative standardizes methodological factors facilitating comparison of the prevalences and associated factors of AUDs in a large number of countries to identify differences and commonalities.

Methods

Lifetime and 12-month prevalence estimates of DSM-IV AUDs, MHDs, and associations were assessed in the 29 WMH surveys using the WHO CIDI 3.0.

Results

Prevalence estimates of alcohol use and AUD across countries and WHO regions varied widely. Mean lifetime prevalence of alcohol use in all countries combined was 80%, ranging from 3.8% to 97.1%. Combined average population lifetime and 12-month prevalence of AUDs were 8.6% and 2.2% respectively and 10.7% and 4.4% among non-abstainers. Of individuals with a lifetime AUD, 43.9% had at least one lifetime MHD and 17.9% of respondents with a lifetime MHD had a lifetime AUD. For most comorbidity combinations, the MHD preceded the onset of the AUD. AUD prevalence was much higher for men than women. 15% of all lifetime AUD cases developed before age 18. Higher household income and being older at time of interview, married, and more educated, were associated with a lower risk for lifetime AUD and AUD persistence.

Conclusions

Prevalence of alcohol use and AUD is high overall, with large variation worldwide. The WMH surveys corroborate the wide geographic consistency of a number of well-documented clinical and epidemiological findings and patterns.

Keywords: alcohol, abuse, dependence, remission, comorbidity, prevalence

Introduction

Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) are serious psychiatric conditions often leading to major adverse consequences. The 2018 World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health determined that in 2016 harmful use of alcohol caused approximately 3 million deaths (or 5.3% of all deaths), more than hypertension and diabetes combined. The WHO report estimated that 5.1% of the global burden of disease and injury, equivalent to 132.6 million Disability-adjusted Life Years (DALYs), was caused by alcohol use1. In 2016, an estimated 2.3 billion people were current drinkers and 283 million people aged 15+ years had an AUD (5.1% of adults). The economic burden of alcohol use has been estimated to be more than 1% of the gross national product in middle and high income countries 2. Alcohol use was the 7th leading risk for early death and disability3. Despite some decrease in per capita alcohol use in some WHO regions, worldwide per capita alcohol consumption is predicted to increase over the next 10 years with a possible increase in disease burden1. Multi-country epidemiologic data on AUDs can enable better understanding of patterns and characteristics of AUDs providing necessary information for prevention and treatment implementation and policy. There is little cross-national standardized data available4,5. It is difficult to compare findings from different studies as they generally have not used equivalent assessments, administrations, diagnostic systems, sampling and analysis approaches. A few limited multi-country or regional studies using a standardized assessment have been conducted. One early notable effort used the Diagnostic Interview Schedule6 which includes an assessment of DSM-III7 alcohol abuse and dependence to assess samples in coordinated studies in 10 different cultural regions8. There was wide variation in the lifetime prevalence rates of DSM-III alcohol abuse and/or dependence ranging from .45% in Shanghai to 22% in Korea and 23% in United States native Mexican Americans although there was similarity in a number of associated variables.

The WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative 9 standardizes survey design and implementation procedures that facilitate the comparison of estimates of prevalence and correlates of AUDs in a large number of participating countries911, making the study especially useful for investigating cross-national characteristics of disorders12. This paper reports findings on the prevalences and correlates of AUDs in the WMH countries.

Methods

Data for this paper come from 29 WMH surveys carried out in 27 countries or country regions between 2001 and 2015. The list of participating countries, their World Bank income classification 13, and the sample characteristics for each country including the sample sizes are shown in Table 1.

Table 1:

WMH sample characteristics by World Bank income categoriesa

Country Sampling Field dates Age rangeb Sample size Response ratec
Part 1 Part 2
Low and lower-middle income countries
Colombia All urban areas of the country (about 73% of the total national population) 2003 18-65 4,426 2,381 87.7%
Iraq Nationally representative 2006-7 18-96 4,332 4,332 95.2%
Nigeria 21 of the 36 states in the country (about 57% of the national population) 2002-4 18-100 6,752 2,143 79.3%
China Beijing and Shanghai metropolitan areas 2001-3 18-70 5,201 1,628 74.7%
Peru All urban areas of the country 2004-5 18-65 3,930 1,801 90.2%
Ukraine Nationally representative 2002 18-91 4,725 1,720 78.3%
Total 29,366 14,005 82.8%
Upper-middle income countries
Brazil São Paulo metropolitan area 2005-8 18-93 5,037 2,942 81.3%
Bulgaria Nationally representative 2002-6 18-98 5,318 2,233 72.0%
Colombia Medellin metropolitan area 2011-12 19-65 3,261 1,673 97.2%
Lebanon Nationally representative 2002-3 18-94 2,857 1,031 70.0%
Mexico All urban areas of the country (about 75% of the total national population) 2001-2 18-65 5,782 2,362 76.6%
Romania Nationally representative 2005-6 18-96 2,357 2,357 70.9%
South Africa Nationally representative 2002-4 18-92 4,315 4,315 87.1%
Total 28,927 16,913 78.5%
High income countries
Argentina Nationally representative 2015 18-98 3,927 2,116 77.3%
Australia Nationally representative 2007 18-85 8,463 8,463 60.0%
Belgium Nationally representative 2001-2 18-95 2,419 1,043 50.6%
France Nationally representative 2001-2 18-97 2,894 1,436 45.9%
Germany Nationally representative 2002-3 19-95 3,555 1,323 57.8%
Israel Nationally representative 2003-4 21-98 4,859 4,859 72.6%
Italy Nationally representative 2001-2 18-100 4,712 1,779 71.3%
Japan Eleven metropolitan areas 2002-6 20-98 4,129 1,682 55.1%
The Netherlands Nationally representative 2002-3 18-95 2,372 1,094 56.4%
New Zealand Nationally representative 2004-5 18-98 12,790 7,312 73.3%
North Ireland Nationally representative 2005-8 18-97 4,340 1,986 68.4%
Poland Nationally representative 2010-11 18-65 10,081 4,000 50.4%
Portugal Nationally representative 2008-9 18-81 3,849 2,060 57.3%
Spain Nationally representative 2001-2 18-98 5,473 2,121 78.6%
Spain Murcia region 2010-12 18-96 2,621 1,459 67.4%
United States Nationally representative 2001-3 18-99 9,282 5,692 70.9%
Total 85,766 48,425 63.1%
Overall sample 144,059 79,343 69.2%
a

The World Bank (2018) Data. Accessed August, 2018 at: http://data.worldbank.org/country. Some of the WMH countries have moved into new income categories since the surveys were conducted. The income groupings above reflect the status of each country at the time of data collection. The current income category of each country is available at the preceding URL.

b

For the purposes of cross-national comparisons we limit the sample to those 18+.

c

The response rate is calculated as the ratio of the number of households in which an interview was completed to the number of households originally sampled, excluding from the denominator households known not to be eligible either because of being vacant at the time of initial contact or because the residents were unable to speak the designated languages of the survey.

Mental and substance use disorders were assessed using the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) Version 3.0, a validated fully-structured lay-administered interview14 generating lifetime and 12-month prevalence estimates of DSM-IV-TR 15 mood, anxiety, behavioral, and substance use disorders 9. The CIDI assesses AUDs by asking a series of questions that operationalize the DSM-IV symptom criteria for Alcohol Abuse (ALA) and Alcohol Dependence (ALD). Respondents who met criteria for either ALA or ALD were considered to have an AUD. Consistent with DSM-IV, any respondents who met criteria for both AUD disorders were diagnosed with ALD.

In an effort to reduce respondent burden a two-part sampling design was used in which all respondents were administered a Part I interview that contained questions about disorders of primary interest to the WMH investigators. A Part II sample, consisting of 100% of the Part I respondents who met lifetime criteria for any of the disorders assessed in Part I plus a probability sample (typically in the range between 20% and 33% depending on the country) of other Part I respondents were administered Part II of the survey. The Part II sample included questions about disorders of secondary interest along with questions about risk factors and consequences of disorders. The non-certainty respondents in the Part II sample were weighted by the inverse of their probability of selection so that weighted prevalence estimates of Part I disorders in the Part II sample are identical to unweighted estimates of these disorders in the Part I sample. Weights were also used to match the samples to population socio-demographic distributions. As discussed in detail elsewhere,16 the sequence of steps in calculating analysis weights was the same across WMH surveys but differed in exact procedures depending on the sample frame and access to population data for post-survey adjustments. A total of 123,237 respondents across the 29 surveys were assessed for AUDs. The Part II sample includes 79,343 respondents. Further details on the WMH surveys are summarized in the Appendix Methods.

Data Analysis

All analyses were based on weighted data, accounting for stratification and clustering. Standard errors were estimated using Taylor series linearization as implemented in Statistical Analysis System® (SAS) Version 9.417. SAS PROC LIFETEST was used to produce life-table estimates of the age-of-onset (AOO) distributions of AUD and are reported as weighted prevalences. The associations of sociodemographic variables (see Appendix Methods for full list) with lifetime AUD prevalence as of given ages were assessed using discrete-time logistic regression analyses with person-year the unit of analysis. Similar analyses using standard logistic regression were used to investigate correlates of past year AUD among non-abstainers defined as those who report at least some use of alcohol in their lifetimes. Results are presented as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Tests of significance were evaluated using Wald F tests based on design-corrected coefficient variance-covariance matrices with statistical significance defined at the 2-tailed 0.05 level.

Results

Lifetime Prevalence

Table 2 shows the lifetime prevalence of alcohol use, ALA, ALD and AUDs for each of the surveys, the countries combined, the countries grouped by World Bank income levels, and the WHO regions. There are significant differences in base rate prevalences of lifetime alcohol use and all DSM-IV diagnoses across countries, income levels and regions, as well as significant differences in prevalences when considered only among non-abstainers.

Table 2:

Prevalence of lifetime alcohol use, alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence in the World Mental Health Surveys

Country N Lifetime alcohol use Lifetime DSM-IV alcohol abuse Lifetime DSM-IV alcohol dependence Lifetime DSM-IV alcohol use disorder DSM-IV abuse among lifetime users DSM-IV dependence among lifetime users DSM-IV use disorder among lifetime users

% SE % SE % SE % SE % SE % SE % SE

Low-Lower middle income countries 29,366 68.0 0.4 4.4 0.2 1.5 0.1 5.9 0.2 6.5 0.2 2.2 0.1 8.6 0.3
 Colombia 4,426 94.3 0.5 6.9 0.5 2.5 0.4 9.4 0.6 7.3 0.6 2.7 0.4 10.0 0.7
 Iraq 4,332 3.8 0.4 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.7 0.2 13.8 5.2 5.4 2.9 19.2 5.7
 Nigeria 6,752 55.8 0.8 1.9 0.2 0.3 0.1 2.2 0.2 3.4 0.3 0.6 0.1 4.0 0.3
 Peru 3,930 97.1 0.3 4.3 0.3 1.5 0.2 5.7 0.4 4.4 0.3 1.5 0.2 5.9 0.4
 PRC China 5,201 67.3 1.2 3.7 0.3 1.1 0.2 4.7 0.4 5.5 0.5 1.6 0.3 7.0 0.6
 Ukraine 4,725 96.4 0.4 10.0 0.7 3.7 0.4 13.7 0.8 10.4 0.7 3.8 0.4 14.2 0.9

Upper-middle income countries 27,339 73.9 0.4 4.7 0.2 2.4 0.1 7.2 0.2 6.4 0.3 3.3 0.2 9.7 0.3
 Brazil 5,037 86.6 0.5 6.6 0.5 3.3 0.3 9.8 0.6 7.6 0.6 3.8 0.4 11.3 0.7
 Bulgaria 5,318 77.8 0.6 2.2 0.2 0.9 0.1 3.2 0.3 2.9 0.3 1.2 0.2 4.1 0.4
 Colombia (Medellin) 1,673 87.1 1.5 8.0 1.2 4.8 0.8 12.8 1.4 9.2 1.3 5.5 1.0 14.6 1.6
 Lebanon 2,857 55.5 2.5 1.2 0.3 0.4 0.2 1.6 0.3 2.1 0.5 0.7 0.3 2.8 0.6
 Mexico 5,782 85.7 0.6 4.2 0.3 3.8 0.4 8.0 0.6 4.9 0.4 4.4 0.5 9.4 0.6
 Romania 2,357 83.2 1.0 2.4 0.3 0.7 0.2 3.1 0.3 2.9 0.3 0.8 0.2 3.8 0.3
 South Africa 4,315 40.6 1.2 8.8 0.7 2.7 0.4 11.5 0.8 21.6 1.4 6.7 0.9 28.3 1.7

High income countries 66,532 87.7 0.2 7.7 0.1 2.6 0.1 10.3 0.2 8.8 0.2 3.0 0.1 11.8 0.2
 Argentina 2,116 82.1 1.3 7.0 0.7 1.2 0.3 8.2 0.7 8.6 0.8 1.4 0.3 10.0 0.9
 Australia 8,463 94.1 0.4 18.7 0.6 4.0 0.3 22.7 0.6 19.9 0.7 4.2 0.3 24.1 0.7
 Belgium 2,419 91.1 1.2 6.6 0.8 1.7 0.5 8.3 0.9 7.2 0.9 1.9 0.6 9.1 0.9
 France 2,894 92.8 0.7 5.5 0.5 1.6 0.3 7.1 0.5 6.0 0.6 1.7 0.3 7.6 0.5
 Germany 3,555 95.1 0.7 4.9 0.4 1.5 0.3 6.5 0.6 5.2 0.5 1.6 0.3 6.8 0.6
 Israel 4,859 58.3 0.8 3.9 0.3 0.4 0.1 4.3 0.3 6.7 0.5 0.7 0.2 7.4 0.5
 Italy 4,712 75.4 1.5 0.9 0.1 0.3 0.1 1.3 0.2 1.2 0.2 0.5 0.1 1.7 0.3
 Japan 1,682 88.6 1.1 6.5 0.7 0.9 0.2 7.3 0.7 7.3 0.8 1.0 0.2 8.3 0.8
 New Zealand 12,790 94.8 0.3 7.5 0.3 4.6 0.2 12.1 0.4 7.9 0.3 4.9 0.2 12.8 0.4
 Northern Ireland 1,986 83.1 1.0 10.7 0.9 2.5 0.4 13.2 1.0 12.9 1.1 3.0 0.5 15.9 1.2
 Poland 4,000 86.3 0.6 8.8 0.4 2.2 0.2 11.1 0.5 10.2 0.5 2.6 0.3 12.8 0.5
 Portugal 2,060 85.4 1.3 8.7 1.0 1.3 0.3 10.0 1.0 10.2 1.1 1.6 0.3 11.8 1.2
 Spain 5,473 87.3 0.6 3.0 0.4 0.6 0.1 3.6 0.4 3.5 0.5 0.7 0.1 4.1 0.5
 Spain (Murcia) 1,459 89.4 1.3 4.9 0.7 1.5 0.5 6.4 0.6 5.5 0.7 1.6 0.6 7.1 0.7
 The Netherlands 2,372 94.1 0.7 7.4 0.8 1.5 0.3 8.9 0.9 7.9 0.8 1.6 0.3 9.5 0.9
 The United States 5,692 91.6 0.9 7.8 0.4 6.0 0.4 13.8 0.6 8.5 0.4 6.5 0.4 15.0 0.6

All countries combined 123,237 80.0 0.2 6.3 0.1 2.3 0.1 8.6 0.1 7.8 0.1 2.9 0.1 10.7 0.1

WHO regionsa
 Region of the Americas 28,656 89.7 0.3 6.2 0.2 3.5 0.2 9.7 0.3 6.9 0.2 3.9 0.2 10.8 0.3
 African Region 11,067 49.9 0.6 4.6 0.3 1.3 0.1 5.9 0.3 9.2 0.6 2.5 0.3 11.7 0.7
 Western Pacific Region 28,136 89.1 0.4 10.1 0.3 3.6 0.1 13.7 0.3 11.3 0.3 4.0 0.2 15.3 0.3
 Eastern Mediterranean Region 12,048 38.0 0.8 2.0 0.2 0.3 0.1 2.4 0.2 5.4 0.4 0.9 0.2 6.3 0.4
 Western European Region 26,930 87.4 0.4 5.0 0.2 1.2 0.1 6.2 0.2 5.7 0.2 1.4 0.1 7.1 0.2
 Eastern European Region 16,400 86.0 0.3 6.1 0.2 2.0 0.1 8.1 0.3 7.1 0.3 2.3 0.1 9.4 0.3

Comparison between countriesb F(28,5333) = 347.8 P<0.0001 F(28,5333) = 72.3 P<0.0001 F(28,5333) = 34.7 P<0.0001 F(28,5333) = 96.4 P<0.0001 F(28,5333) = 51.4 P<0.0001 F(28,5333) = 27.1 P<0.0001 F(28,5333) = 66.7 P<0.0001
Comparison between low, middle and high income country groupsb F(2,5359) = 993.8 P<0.0001 F(2,5359) = 140.6 P<0.0001 F(2,5359) = 46.1 P<0.0001 F(2,5359) = 160.5 P<0.0001 F(2,5359) = 49.0 P<0.0001 F(2,5359) = 16.5 P<0.0001 F(2,5359) = 48.3 P<0.0001
Comparison between WHO regionsb F(5,5356) = 1116.7 P<0.0001 F(5,5356) = 149.9 P<0.0001 F(5,5356) = 128.7 P<0.0001 F(5,5356) = 252.4 P<0.0001 F(5,5356) = 56.0 P<0.0001 F(5,5356) = 68.1 P<0.0001 F(5,5356) = 98.3 P<0.0001
a

Region of the Americas (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Medellin, Mexico, Peru, the United States);

African region (Nigeria, South Africa);

Western Pacific region (Australia, Japan, New Zealand, PRC China (Beijing and Shanghai));

Eastern Mediterranean region (Iraq, Israel, Lebanon);

Western European region (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Spain(Murcia));

Eastern European region (Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Ukraine).

b

Wald design-corrected F-tests were used to determine if there is variation in prevalence estimates across countries.

The mean lifetime prevalence of alcohol use in all countries combined was 80%, ranging from 3.8% in Iraq to 97.1% in Peru. The average lifetime prevalence of ALA for all countries was 6.3%, ranging from 0.5% in Iraq to 18.7% in Australia. The average lifetime prevalence of ALD for all countries was 2.3%, ranging from 0.2% in Iraq to 6.0% in the United States. As expected, the lifetime prevalence of ALD was lower than ALA cross-nationally and for all within-country comparisons. The lifetime prevalence of AUDs for all countries combined was 8.6% and ranged from 0.7% in Iraq to 22.7% in Australia.

The lifetime prevalence of AUDs among non-abstainers for all countries combined was 10.7%. Once conditioned upon lifetime alcohol use, there was a noticeable shift in the ordering of prevalence across surveys. When excluding lifetime alcohol abstainers, the highest prevalence of lifetime AUD was found in South Africa (28.3%) exceeding that of Australia (24.1%) which had the highest unconditioned AUD prevalence. The lowest conditional prevalences were found for Italy with estimates of 1.2% for ALA, 0.5% for ALD, and 1.7% for AUD. When all survey participants were considered, Iraq had the lowest prevalence of AUDs. However, once conditioning on lifetime use, Iraq fell in the top three of all surveys for AUD prevalence indicating a low level of overall use but a high risk of AUD among users.

Unconditional lifetime prevalence of AUDs shows a clear positive trend with country income level, increasing from 5.9% for AUDs in low/lower-middle income countries to 7.2% in upper-middle income countries and 10.3% in high-income countries. Comparisons of AUD diagnoses by income group remain significant when conditioning upon lifetime use of alcohol but the trend was less consistent. Comparing between WHO regions, prevalence rates of AUDs were lowest among the Eastern Mediterranean surveys and highest among the Western Pacific surveys, regardless of whether conditioning on alcohol use or not.

Past-year Prevalence

Table 3 shows the prevalences of past-year alcohol use, ALA, ALD and AUDs for all countries, income levels and WHO regions, as well as past-year diagnoses conditional on past-year use. There were significant differences in unconditional and conditional past-year alcohol use and diagnoses across countries. The average 12-month prevalence of alcohol use was 52.3%, ranging from 1.7% in Iraq to 76.9% in Australia. The average 12-month prevalence of ALA for all countries was 1.3% and ranges from 0.1% in Iraq and Japan to 3.7% in the Ukraine. Similar to observations among lifetime prevalences, within-survey comparisons show past-year rates of ALA most often exceed past-year ALD. The average past-year prevalence of AUDs for all countries combined was 2.2% and ranges from 0.1% in Iraq to 5.9% in the Ukraine.

Table 3:

Prevalence of past-year alcohol use, alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence in the World Mental Health Surveys

Country N Past-year alcohol usec Past-year DSM-IV alcohol abuse Past-year DSM-IV alcohol dependence Past-year DSM-IV alcohol use disorder Past-year DSM-IV abuse among past-year usersc Past-year DSM-IV dependence among past-year usersc Past-year DSM-IV use disorder among past-year usersc

% SE % SE % SE % SE % SE % SE % SE

Low-Lower middle income countries 29,366 42.4 0.6 1.2 0.1 0.8 0.1 2.0 0.1 1.9 0.2 1.5 0.2 3.4 0.3
Colombia 4,426 58.3 1.0 1.3 0.2 1.3 0.3 2.6 0.4 2.3 0.4 2.2 0.5 4.5 0.6
Iraq 4,332 1.7 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 6.6 5.0 0.7 0.5 7.3 4.9
Nigeria 6,752 - - 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.7 0.1 - - - - - -
Peru 3,930 69.4 0.7 1.0 0.2 0.6 0.1 1.6 0.2 1.5 0.3 0.8 0.1 2.3 0.3
PRC China 5,201 - - 0.8 0.2 0.6 0.2 1.5 0.2 - - - - - -
Ukraine 4,725 - - 3.7 0.4 2.2 0.2 5.9 0.5 - - - - - -

Upper-middle income countries 27,339 45.8 0.5 1.4 0.1 0.9 0.1 2.3 0.1 2.2 0.2 1.9 0.2 4.1 0.3
Brazil 5,037 43.4 0.7 1.8 0.3 1.3 0.2 3.1 0.4 4.1 0.7 3.1 0.3 7.2 0.8
Bulgaria 5,318 62.9 0.8 0.8 0.2 0.3 0.1 1.1 0.2 1.3 0.3 0.5 0.1 1.7 0.3
Colombia (Medellin) 1,673 45.7 2.9 1.5 0.3 1.7 0.4 3.2 0.5 3.3 0.8 3.8 0.9 7.1 1.2
Lebanon 2,857 31.0 2.4 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.6 0.2 1.0 0.5 0.9 0.5 1.9 0.7
Mexico 5,782 43.4 1.0 1.0 0.2 1.2 0.3 2.2 0.4 2.3 0.5 2.8 0.6 5.0 0.8
Romania 2,357 36.2 1.5 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.8 0.3 1.2 0.5 1.0 0.4 2.2 0.7
South Africa 4,315 . . 3.5 0.4 1.3 0.2 4.7 0.4 - - - - - -

High income countries 66,532 58.4 0.4 1.4 0.1 0.8 0.0 2.2 0.1 2.9 0.1 1.9 0.1 4.8 0.2
Argentina 2,116 57.9 2.1 1.3 0.2 0.3 0.1 1.6 0.2 2.2 0.3 0.5 0.2 2.7 0.4
Australia 8,463 76.9 0.7 2.6 0.2 1.4 0.2 4.1 0.3 3.4 0.3 1.9 0.2 5.3 0.4
Belgium 2,419 - - 1.4 0.4 0.3 0.1 1.7 0.4 - - - - - -
France 2,894 - - 0.7 0.2 0.5 0.2 1.3 0.3 - - - - - -
Germany 3,555 - - 0.8 0.2 0.3 0.1 1.1 0.2 - - - - - -
Israel 4,859 51.8 0.8 1.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.1 0.2 2.0 0.3 0.3 0.1 2.2 0.3
Italy 4,712 - - 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.1 - - - - - -
Japan 1,682 64.3 1.6 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.7 0.2 0.8 0.3 0.4 0.1 1.1 0.3
New Zealand 12,790 40.8 0.6 1.5 0.1 1.5 0.1 3.0 0.2 3.6 0.4 3.7 0.3 7.3 0.5
Northern Ireland 1,986 68.9 1.5 2.3 0.4 0.7 0.2 3.1 0.5 3.4 0.6 1.1 0.3 4.4 0.7
Poland 4,000 65.5 0.9 2.2 0.3 1.2 0.2 3.5 0.3 3.4 0.4 1.9 0.3 5.3 0.4
Portugal 2,060 62.3 1.6 1.3 0.2 0.3 0.1 1.6 0.3 2.1 0.4 0.4 0.2 2.5 0.4
Spain 5,473 - - 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.7 0.2 - - - - - -
Spain (Murcia) 1,459 65.9 2.5 0.6 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.9 0.4 1.0 0.5 0.5 0.3 1.4 0.6
The Netherlands 2,372 - - 1.5 0.3 0.4 0.1 1.9 0.3 - - - - - -
The United States 5,692 62.3 1.4 1.6 0.1 1.7 0.2 3.3 0.3 2.6 0.2 2.7 0.3 5.3 0.4

All countries combined 123,237 52.3 0.3 1.3 0.0 0.8 0.0 2.2 0.1 2.6 0.1 1.8 0.1 4.4 0.1

WHO regionsa
Region of the Americas 28,656 54.2 0.5 1.4 0.1 1.2 0.1 2.6 0.1 2.5 0.2 2.2 0.2 4.7 0.2
African Region 11,067 - - 1.7 0.2 0.6 0.1 2.3 0.2 - - - - - -
Western Pacific Region 28,136 55.9 0.5 1.6 0.1 1.2 0.1 2.9 0.1 3.3 0.2 2.5 0.2 5.8 0.3
Eastern Mediterranean Region 12,048 28.9 0.7 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.6 0.1 1.8 0.3 0.4 0.1 2.2 0.3
Western European Region 26,930 65.6 1.1 0.9 0.1 0.3 0.0 1.2 0.1 2.3 0.3 0.7 0.2 3.0 0.3
Eastern European Region 16,400 58.4 0.6 1.9 0.1 1.1 0.1 3.0 0.2 2.1 0.2 1.1 0.1 3.1 0.2

Comparison between countriesb F(18,4939) = 230.8 P<0.0001 F(28,5333) = 20.5 P<0.0001 F(28,5333) = 19.4 P<0.0001 F(28,5333) = 31.9 P<0.0001 F(18,4939) = 6.5 P<0.0001 F(18,4939) = 15.9 P<0.0001 F(18,4939) = 16.3 P<0.0001
Comparison between low, middle and high income country groupsb F(2,4955) = 309.5 P<0.0001 F(2,5359) = 1.5 P=0.2155 F(2,5359) = 0.8 P=0.4309 F(2,5359) = 2.0 P=0.1422 F(2,4955) = 8.1 P=0.0003 F(2,4955) = 1.3 P=0.2677 F(2,4955) = 7.9 P=0.0004
Comparison between WHO regionsb F(4,4953) = 252.7 P<0.0001 F(5,5356) = 29.4 P<0.0001 F(5,5356) = 58.7 P<0.0001 F(5,5356) = 72.9 P<0.0001 F(4,4953) = 6.2 P<0.0001 F(4,4953) = 32.8 P<0.0001 F(4,4953) = 25.4 P<0.0001
a

Region of the Americas (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Medellin, Mexico, Peru, the United States);

African region (Nigeria, South Africa);

Western Pacific region (Australia, Japan, New Zealand, PRC China (Beijing and Shanghai));

Eastern Mediterranean region (Iraq, Israel, Lebanon);

Western European region (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Spain(Murcia));

Eastern European region (Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Ukraine).

b

Wald design-corrected F-tests were used to determine if there is variation in prevalence estimates across countries.

c

12-month alcohol use was not assessed within Nigeria, PRC China, Ukraine, South Africa and ESEMED countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain) and is represented by a dash (-).

Conditioning on past year alcohol use, the average past year prevalence for all countries combined was 2.6% for ALA, 1.8% for ALD, and 4.4% for AUD. Iraq had the highest past year prevalence rate (joint with New Zealand) of any survey for AUDs among past-year users (7.3%) which sharply contrasts with its unconditional past-year AUD estimate in which it reported the lowest of any survey (0.1%). The lowest conditional past year prevalence of AUDs was from Japan (1.1%).

There were significant differences in past-year prevalence estimates across WHO regions. The Eastern Mediterranean region had the lowest prevalence estimates among WHO regions for alcohol use (28.9%), ALA (0.5%), ALD (0.1%), and AUD (0.6%) and this pattern was consistent when conditioning upon past-year use ALA (1.8%), ALD (0.4%), and AUD (2.2%). The highest unconditional past year prevalence estimates of alcohol use were from the Western European Region (65.6%), the highest prevalence of ALA was from the Eastern Europe region (1.9%) the highest prevalence of ALD was from the Western Pacific and Region of the Americas (1.2%), and the highest prevalence of AUD was from the Eastern Europe region (3.0%). When excluding alcohol abstainers, the Western Pacific surveys had the highest prevalence estimates for past year ALA (3.3%), ALD (2.5%) and AUD (5.8%).

There were significant differences between income groups for ALA and AUDs but not ALD when alcohol abstainers were excluded, though there were no significant differences when they were included. Unconditional AUD prevalence ranged from 2.0% in low/lower-middle income surveys to 2.3% in upper-middle income surveys while conditional AUD prevalences ranged from 3.4% in lower income surveys to 4.8% in high income surveys.

Remission

Remission among people with lifetime AUD was defined at time of interview as having had more than 12 months, or at least two birthdays, since the last disorder related problem. Table 4 shows prevalence of remission at the time of interview among lifetime ALA, ALD and all AUD cases as well as among AUD cases that had at least one non-substance use mental disorders (MHD). For all conditional groups, there were significant differences in the prevalence of AUD remission across countries, income levels and regions. The average prevalence of ALA remission for all countries was 79.5% and 59.7% for ALD. The average prevalence of AUD remission was 75.2%, ranging from 58.2% in Ukraine to 89.3% in Japan. When conditioning on specific disorders, the average remission prevalence was higher among ALA (79.5%) compared to ALD (59.7%) cases, with this same trend consistent within most survey-specific comparisons. Among those with at least one MHD, the average prevalence of AUD remission was 72.5%, ranging from 47.9% in Lebanon to 94.5% in Spain.

Table 4:

Prevalence of remission from alcohol use disorders among those with specific disordersa

Country Remission among DSM-IV abuse cases Remission among DSM-IV dependence casese Remission among all DSM-IV use disorder casese Remission from an AUD among those with DSM-IV alcohol use disorder and at least one other mental disorderb,e

% SE % SE % SE % SE

Low-Lower middle income countries 74.4 1.5 46.2 2.7 67.3 1.4 62.2 3.2
Colombia 84.0 2.8 49.5 5.6 74.7 3.0 68.6 4.7
Iraq 78.4 11.9 93.9 5.2 82.8 9.8 60.0 27.1
Nigeria 76.1 2.8 32.6 10.7 69.7 2.8 63.2 8.4
Peru 76.6 3.9 62.5 6.2 73.0 2.6 73.1 6.2
PRC China 78.5 3.3 39.9 8.3 69.9 3.7 52.7 11.3
Ukraine 65.0 2.7 40.0 4.1 58.2 2.3 50.0 6.9

Upper-middle income countries 71.5 1.7 59.1 2.9 67.0 1.5 65.5 2.5
Brazil 74.0 3.1 61.3 3.8 69.8 2.5 66.1 3.7
Bulgaria 67.3 5.6 68.1 7.3 67.5 4.0 75.1 7.9
Colombia (Medellin) 83.4 3.8 65.3 7.3 76.6 3.6 78.0 4.2
Lebanon 74.6 9.7 29.0 10.9 63.3 9.5 47.9 10.3
Mexico 76.9 4.3 - - - - - -
Romania 82.3 7.0 38.6 11.5 72.6 7.4 56.2 17.5
South Africa 61.1 3.4 54.0 6.7 59.4 3.0 58.4 4.9

High income countries 82.9 0.7 67.2 2.0 80.8 0.8 77.6 1.5
Argentina 82.4 2.5 79.0 7.7 81.9 2.4 84.5 4.1
Australia 86.4 1.2 64.3 3.5 82.5 1.3 76.8 2.7
Belgium 79.9 4.3 82.9 3.8 80.5 3.6 78.9 6.7
France 87.3 2.7 66.2 8.7 82.7 3.5 88.6 3.9
Germany 85.3 2.8 78.8 6.7 83.8 3.0 85.3 7.1
Israel 74.1 3.2 68.4 10.7 73.5 3.0 67.1 6.7
Italy 91.3 5.0 73.8 9.0 86.4 4.5 79.3 12.8
Japan 92.4 2.8 66.3 9.2 89.3 2.9 91.1 3.9
New Zealand 80.5 1.7 - - - - - -
Northern Ireland 79.8 3.4 69.8 7.2 77.9 3.1 78.0 3.7
Poland 77.0 2.8 44.4 5.8 70.5 2.3 63.5 4.1
Portugal 85.4 3.2 80.5 7.9 84.7 3.0 81.1 3.8
Spain 81.4 4.0 82.5 9.9 81.6 3.9 94.5 4.0
Spain (Murcia) 86.8 6.9 79.4 13.5 85.2 5.7 75.2 7.6
The Netherlands 81.4 3.8 71.8 8.1 79.8 3.3 74.6 8.3
The United States 80.3 1.6 - - - - - -

All countries combined 79.5 0.6 59.7 1.5 75.2 0.6 72.5 1.2

WHO regionsc
Region of the Americas 79.4 1.2 60.1 2.7 74.0 1.4 72.8 2
African Region 65.0 2.6 50.6 6.0 61.8 2.4 58.8 4.5
Western Pacific Region 84.1 0.9 61.1 3.2 81.5 1.2 76.8 2.6
Eastern Mediterranean Region 74.6 3.0 63.2 9.1 72.9 2.9 63.5 6.5
Western European Region 83.3 1.3 75.7 2.8 81.8 1.2 80.8 1.9
Eastern European Region 70.5 1.8 45.3 3.1 64.3 1.5 58.2 3.7

Comparison between countriesd F(28,5333) = 4.3 P<0.0001 F(25,5070) = 3.7 P<0.0001 F(25,5070) = 6.9 P<0.0001 F(28,5070) = 3.3 P<0.0001
Comparison between low, middle and high income country groupsd F(2,5359) = 26.4 P<0.0001 F(2,5093) = 17.6 P<0.0001 F(2,5093) = 53.4 P<0.0001 F(2,5093) = 14.4 P<0.0001
Comparison between WHO regionsd F(5,5356) = 15.7 P<0.0001 F(5,5090) = 10.5 P<0.0001 F(5,5090) = 26.2 P<0.0001 F(5,5090) = 8.7 P<0.0001
a

Remission is defined as having reported more than 12 months, or at least two birthdays, since the last disorder related problem.

b

Includes lifetime presence of any of the following: major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, social phobia, specific phobia, childhood or adult separation anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder.

c

Region of the Americas (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Medellin, Mexico, Peru, the United States);

African region (Nigeria, South Africa);

Western Pacific region (Australia, Japan, New Zealand, PRC China (Beijing and Shanghai));

Eastern Mediterranean region (Iraq, Israel, Lebanon);

Western European region (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Spain(Murcia));

Eastern European region (Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Ukraine).

d

Wald design-corrected F-tests were used to determine if there is variation in prevalence estimates across countries.

e

Remission from dependence could not be assessed in the United States, New Zealand and Mexico (see eMethods).

Gender

Table 5 shows 12-month and lifetime prevalences for AUD by gender. The average past year prevalence of AUD for all countries was 0.9% for women, ranging from no past year cases in Iraq and Nigeria to 2.6% in Australia. The average past year prevalence for all countries was 3.6% for men ranging from 0.2% in Iraq to 11.6% in the Ukraine. Among women, the average lifetime prevalence of AUD for all countries was 3.4% ranging from no lifetime cases in Iraq to 12.1% in Australia. The average lifetime prevalence of AUDs for men was 14.1% for all countries and ranges from 1.4% in Iraq to 33.4% in Australia. In all surveys, the prevalence estimates of both lifetime and 12-month AUDs were higher for men than women.

Table 5:

Prevalence of alcohol use disorders among women and men by country

Country Lifetime DSM-IV alcohol use disorder among women Lifetime DSM-IV alcohol use disorder among men Past-year DSM-IV alcohol use disorder among women Past-year DSM-IV alcohol use disorder among men

% SE % SE % SE

Low-Lower middle income countries 1.1 0.1 10.9 0.4 0.4 0.1 3.7 0.2
Colombia 2.3 0.4 18.0 1.3 0.5 0.2 5.1 0.7
Iraq - - 1.4 0.5 - - 0.2 0.2
Nigeria 0.1 0.1 4.5 0.4 - - 1.4 0.2
Peru 0.9 0.2 10.9 0.7 0.3 0.1 2.9 0.3
PRC China 0.5 0.2 8.5 0.8 0.2 0.1 2.6 0.5
Ukraine 2.9 0.4 26.9 1.5 1.3 0.2 11.6 1.0

Upper-middle income countries 2.3 0.2 12.5 0.4 0.8 0.1 4.0 0.3
Brazil 4.0 0.5 16.4 1.1 1.2 0.3 5.3 0.6
Bulgaria 0.6 0.2 5.9 0.6 0.3 0.1 2.0 0.3
Colombia (Medellin) 5.3 0.7 21.4 2.8 1.4 0.4 5.3 1.0
Lebanon 0.4 0.3 2.8 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.8 0.3
Mexico 1.3 0.3 15.4 1.1 0.2 0.2 4.3 0.7
Romania 0.2 0.1 6.4 0.6 0.1 0.1 1.6 0.5
South Africa 5.0 0.6 19.0 1.4 2.0 0.3 8.0 0.9

High income countries 4.8 0.1 16.3 0.3 1.1 0.1 3.4 0.1
Argentina 3.0 0.5 14.1 1.4 0.7 0.2 2.6 0.4
Australia 12.1 0.7 33.4 1.1 2.6 0.3 5.6 0.5
Belgium 2.1 0.6 14.6 1.6 0.5 0.2 2.9 0.7
France 2.0 0.3 12.7 1.0 0.2 0.1 2.4 0.5
Germany 1.7 0.3 11.6 1.1 0.4 0.1 1.9 0.4
Israel 1.1 0.2 7.8 0.6 0.3 0.1 2.0 0.3
Italy 0.2 0.1 2.4 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.1
Japan 2.5 0.7 12.9 1.3 0.2 0.1 1.3 0.4
New Zealand 7.2 0.4 17.4 0.6 1.8 0.2 4.3 0.3
Northern Ireland 5.8 0.6 21.2 1.8 1.5 0.3 4.7 0.9
Poland 3.4 0.4 18.9 0.9 0.6 0.1 6.4 0.5
Portugal 2.3 0.4 18.4 1.9 0.4 0.2 2.8 0.6
Spain 1.0 0.2 6.5 0.8 0.1 0.0 1.4 0.3
Spain (Murcia) 1.2 0.4 11.4 1.3 0.1 0.0 1.8 0.7
The Netherlands 3.7 0.6 14.3 1.6 1.0 0.3 2.8 0.6
The United States 7.8 0.5 20.5 1.0 1.9 0.3 4.8 0.4

All countries combined 3.4 0.1 14.1 0.2 0.9 0.0 3.6 0.1

WHO regionsa
Region of the Americas 3.5 0.2 16.6 0.5 0.9 0.1 4.4 0.2
African Region 2.1 0.3 10.0 0.6 0.8 0.1 3.9 0.3
Western Pacific Region 7.3 0.3 20.2 0.5 1.7 0.1 4.2 0.2
Eastern Mediterranean Region 0.6 0.1 4.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 1.1 0.2
Western European Region 1.9 0.1 10.8 0.4 0.4 0.1 2.0 0.2
Eastern European Region 1.9 0.2 15.0 0.5 0.6 0.1 5.7 0.3

A dash indicates a zero cell count.

a

Region of the Americas (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Medellin, Mexico, Peru, the United States);

African region (Nigeria, South Africa);

Western Pacific region (Australia, Japan, New Zealand, PRC China (Beijing and Shanghai));

Eastern Mediterranean region (Iraq, Israel, Lebanon);

Western European region (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Spain(Murcia));

Eastern European region (Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Ukraine).

Disorder Persistence

Using the retrospective data on determinations of past AUD it is possible to compute an indirect indicator of disorder persistence as the proportion of lifetimes cases of ALA, ALD and AUDs among subjects who also met criteria for the same diagnosis in the 12 months before interview (Table 6). Significant differences can be seen across countries, survey income groups and WHO regions. Overall, a quarter of respondents who had ever had an AUD continued to have at least some symptoms of the disorder in the past year. For all countries combined, the rates of past-year persistence were 21.4% for ALA, 36.7% for ALD and 25.5% for AUD. There was significant variation for all diagnoses across countries with AUD persistence ranging from 10% in Japan to 43.3% in the Ukraine. Significant variation was also observed between income groups, with persistence highest for ALA among upper-middle income countries at 29.6% and for ALD and AUD among low/lower-middle income countries at 53.8% and 34.1%, respectively. Although Tables 2 and 3 show ALA as being a more prevalent disorder than ALD, the estimates presented in Table 6 show ALD to be a more persistent disorder.

Table 6:

Prevalence of past-year alcohol use disorders among those with lifetime alcohol use disorders in the World Mental Health Surveys

Country N Past-year DSM-IV abuse among lifetime DSM-IV alcohol abuse cases Past-year DSM-IV dependence among lifetime DSM-IV alcohol dependence cases Past-year DSM-IV use disorder among lifetime DSM-IV alcohol use disorder cases

% SE % SE % SE

Low-Lower middle income countries 29,366 27.5 1.6 53.8 2.8 34.1 1.4
Colombia 4,426 19.1 3.2 50.6 6.3 27.6 3.2
Iraq 4,332 21.6 11.9 6.1 5.2 17.2 9.8
Nigeria 6,752 24.8 2.9 67.4 10.7 31.0 2.9
Peru 3,930 24.2 3.5 37.5 6.2 27.6 2.3
PRC China 5,201 22.8 3.4 60.1 8.3 31.1 3.7
Ukraine 4,725 37.1 2.8 60.0 4.1 43.3 2.3

Upper-middle income countries 27,339 29.6 1.8 38.3 2.7 32.5 1.5
Brazil 5,037 27.1 3.2 41.2 3.4 31.8 2.5
Bulgaria 5,318 35.4 5.4 31.9 7.3 34.3 4.0
Colombia (Medellin) 1,673 18.7 4.2 36.5 7.5 25.4 3.8
Lebanon 2,857 25.4 9.7 71.0 10.9 36.7 9.5
Mexico 5,782 23.6 4.4 31.5 5.7 27.3 3.9
Romania 2,357 17.6 6.6 50.3 13.1 24.8 7.3
South Africa 4,315 39.9 3.3 45.8 6.6 41.3 3.0

High income countries 66,532 17.8 0.7 31.8 1.3 21.4 0.7
Argentina 2,116 18.1 2.6 26.6 7.5 19.3 2.5
Australia 8,463 14.1 1.2 36.2 3.5 18.0 1.4
Belgium 2,419 20.7 4.2 19.2 4.0 20.4 3.6
France 2,894 13.4 3.0 33.8 8.7 17.9 3.6
Germany 3,555 15.4 3.1 21.2 6.7 16.8 3.2
Israel 4,859 25.9 3.2 31.6 10.7 26.5 3.0
Italy 4,712 8.7 5.0 26.2 9.0 13.6 4.5
Japan 1,682 7.6 2.8 27.8 8.6 10.0 2.7
New Zealand 12,790 19.7 1.8 32.3 2.1 24.6 1.5
Northern Ireland 1,986 21.7 3.8 29.6 7.1 23.2 3.5
Poland 4,000 25.0 2.8 56.0 5.8 31.3 2.3
Portugal 2,060 15.1 3.3 19.5 7.9 15.7 3.1
Spain 5,473 19.5 4.0 17.5 9.9 19.2 3.9
Spain (Murcia) 1,459 13.2 6.9 20.6 13.5 14.8 5.7
The Netherlands 2,372 20.0 3.9 28.2 8.1 21.3 3.4
The United States 5,692 20.9 1.6 27.7 2.5 23.9 1.6

All countries combined 123,237 21.4 0.6 36.7 1.1 25.5 0.6

WHO regionsa
Region of the Americas 28,656 22.0 1.2 34.6 1.9 26.6 1.1
African Region 11,067 36.0 2.6 49.2 5.9 38.9 2.4
Western Pacific Region 28,136 16.3 1.0 35.1 1.8 21.2 0.9
Eastern Mediterranean Region 12,048 25.4 3.0 36.8 9.1 27.1 2.9
Western European Region 26,930 17.5 1.3 24.5 2.8 18.9 1.3
Eastern European Region 16,400 31.5 1.9 54.2 3.1 37.1 1.6

Comparison between countriesb F(28,5333) = 4.5 P<0.0001 F(28,5333) = 3.8 P<0.0001 F(28,5333) = 6.5 P<0.0001
Comparison between low, middle and high income country groupsb F(2,5359) = 29.7 P<0.0001 F(2,5359) = 21.8 P<0.0001 F(2,5359) = 46.2 P<0.0001
Comparison between WHO regionsb F(5,5356) =17.2 P<0.0001 F(5,5356) = 11.0 P<0.0001 F(5,5356) = 25.0 P<0.0001
a

Region of the Americas (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Medellin, Mexico, Peru, the United States);

African region (Nigeria, South Africa);

Western Pacific region (Australia, Japan, New Zealand, PRC China (Beijing and Shanghai));

Eastern Mediterranean region (Iraq, Israel, Lebanon);

Western European region (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Spain(Murcia));

Eastern European region (Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Ukraine).

b

Wald design-corrected F-tests were used to determine if there is variation in prevalence estimates across countries.

Age of Onset

Figure 1 displays AUD AOO curves among those with a lifetime AUD by survey income group. The earliest 15% of lifetime AUD cases across all survey income groups combined had onset before 18 years of age, which means that of those individuals who will develop an AUD at some time in their life, 15% will do so before age 18. For higher percentages of AUDs, AOO generally decreased as survey income level increased. The median AOO for AUDs was 21 years in high-income survey countries, 23 years in upper-middle income countries and 24 years in low/lower-middle income countries.

Figure 1:

Figure 1:

Age of DSM-IV alcohol use disorder onset distributions among those with a diagnosis by survey income groups

Demographics

Consistent with previous studies, men were significantly more likely than women to have a lifetime or past year persistent AUD (Table 7). The odds for men having a lifetime AUD were 4.6 (95% CI 4.3-4.9) times the odds for women and, among those with a lifetime AUD, the odds for a past year AUD among men were 1.2 (95% CI 1.0-1.4) times the odds for women.

Table 7:

Bivariate associations between sociodemographic correlates and DSM-IV alcohol use disorder

Lifetime DSM-IV alcohol use disordera Past-year DSM-IV alcohol use disorder among lifetime alcohol use disorderb

Prevalence of AUD according to… % (SE) OR (95% CI) % (SE) OR (95% CI)

Gender
Male 14.1 (0.2) 4.6* (4.3-4.9) 25.6 (0.6) 1.2* (1.0-1.3)
Female 3.4 (0.1) 1 25.3 (1.1) 1
F-value [p] 2608.0** [<0.001] 5.7** [0.017]

Age-cohort
18-29 9.1 (0.2) 10.4* (9.2-11.7) 41.0 (1.2) 3.1* (2.2-4.3)
30-44 9.8 (0.2) 6.0* (5.5-6.6) 23.6 (0.9) 1.8* (1.3-2.4)
45-59 9.4 (0.2) 3.4* (3.1-3.8) 17.5 (0.9) 1.7* (1.3-2.3)
60+ 4.6 (0.2) 1 7.8 (0.8) 1
F-value [p] 551.5** [<0.001] 22.0** [<0.001]

Employment status
Student 5.9 (0.5) 0.8* (0.7-1.0) 40.4 (3.7) 1.5* (1.1-2.1)
Homemaker 3.6 (0.2) 0.9* (0.8-1.0) 22.4 (2.0) 1.0 (0.8-1.3)
Retired 4.7 (0.2) 0.8* (0.7-0.9) 10.7 (1.2) 0.9 (0.7-1.1)
Other 11.6 (0.4) 1.5* (1.4-1.6) 34.3 (1.6) 1.4* (1.2-1.6)
Employed 10.2 (0.2) 1 24.9 (0.6) 1
F-value [p] 36.8** [<0.001] 5.4** [<0.001]

Marital status
Never married 10.6 (0.3) 1.3* (1.2-1.4) 38.4 (1.1) 1.9* (1.7-2.2)
Divorced/separated/widowed 9.2 (0.3) 1.6* (1.5-1.7) 19.5 (1.2) 1.1 (0.9-1.3)
Currently married 7.6 (0.1) 1 19.7 (0.7) 1
F-value [p] 80.9** [<0.001] 44.1** [<0.001]

Education level
No education 2.4 (0.3) 1.2 (0.9-1.6) 35.1 (6.3) 2.5* (1.3-5.0)
Some primary 7.1 (0.4) 1.7* (1.5-2.0) 22.0 (1.9) 1.3 (0.9-1.7)
Finished primary 6.4 (0.3) 1.7* (1.5-1.9) 25.5 (2.1) 1.3 (1.0-1.8)
Some secondary 9.9 (0.2) 1.7* (1.6-1.9) 27.2 (1.2) 1.3* (1.1-1.6)
Finished secondary 8.9 (0.2) 1.4* (1.2-1.5) 26.4 (1.0) 1.2 (1.0-1.4)
Some college 11.5 (0.3) 1.4* (1.3-1.5) 26.5 (1.3) 1.3* (1.1-1.6)
Finished college 7.7 (0.3) 1 22.5 (1.3) 1
F-value [p] 25.7** [<0.001] 2.2** [0.042]

Household income
Low 9.9 (0.2) 1.2* (1.2-1.3) 27.9 (1.1) 1.3* (1.1-1.5)
Low-average 9.5 (0.2) 1.1* (1.1-1.2) 25.5 (1.2) 1.1 (1.0-1.3)
High-average 9.2 (0.2) 1.0 (1.0-1.1) 25.1 (1.1) 1.1 (0.9-1.3)
High 10.2 (0.3) 1 23.8 (1.1) 1
F-value [p] 15.0** [<0.001] 2.5 [0.060]
*

Significant at the .05 level, 2-sided test.

a

Estimates are based on discrete-time logistic regression analyses controlling for age-cohorts, gender, person-years and country.

b

Estimates are based on logistic regression model adjusted for time since AUD onset, gender and country.

Based on age at interview, younger cohorts were more likely to have a lifetime AUD and past year AUD persistence, with respondents aged 18-29 years having the highest odds for both lifetime (OR 10.4, 95% CI 9.2-11.7) and persistent past-year (OR 3.1, 95% CI 2.2-4.3) AUD compared to those aged 60 or over at time of interview. Employment status was significantly associated with development and persistence of AUD, with students less likely to develop a lifetime AUD (OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.7-1.0) but significantly more likely to persist once developing the disorder (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1-2.1) compared to those in employment. Marital status was significantly associated with lifetime and past year persistence of AUD, with divorced, separated or widowed respondents associated with the greatest odds of lifetime AUD (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.5-1.7) and the never-married at elevated odds of both lifetime (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.2-1.4) and persistent past-year AUD (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.7-2.2) compared to those married at time of interview. Education level was significantly associated with lifetime AUD and past year AUD among lifetime cases, with a general trend of an inverse association between educational attainment and likelihood of an AUD. Household income was a significant predictor of lifetime AUD, with those from low (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.2-1.3) and low-average (OR 1.1, 95% CI 1.1-1.2) income households significantly more likely to develop the disorder compared to persons living in high income households.

Onset relative to other mental disorders

AUDs are highly comorbid with MHD (Table 8). Among respondents with a lifetime AUD, 43.9% had at least one other lifetime MHD, and among those who had ever experienced any MHD, 17.9% had a lifetime AUD. Of those with a past year AUD, 58.6% had at least one other lifetime MHD and 42.9% had at least one other MHD in the same 12-month period (Appendix Table 1). Regarding the ordering of onset of these disorders, the MHD most often preceded the onset of the AUD, as was the case for dysthymia, agoraphobia, social phobia, specific phobias, separation anxiety, ADHD, conduct disorder, intermittent explosive disorder (IED) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). The exceptions were bipolar disorder, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) where no significant trend in temporal order of onset was observed, and major depressive disorder (MDD), where AUD onset most often occurred prior to disorder onset.

Table 8:

Prevalence of other mental disorders onset before and after the onset of AUDs in the subset of respondents with lifetime alcohol use disorders

Lifetime disorder % of mental disorders among AUD cases % of AUD among mental disorder cases AUD onset after mental disorder onset (A) AUD and mental disorder onset in the same year (B) AUD prior to onset of mental disorder (C) Comparison between columns A and C (B excluded)10

N % SE N % SE N % SE F-value p-value
Mood disorders
 Major depressive disorder 19.5 16.5 904.0 41.3 1.3 220.0 10.0 0.8 1139.0 48.6 1.3 F(1,361)=8.7 0.003
 Dysthymic disorder1 2.9 25.0 159.0 51.5 2.9 28.0 11.1 2.8 128.0 37.4 2.6 F(1,59)=9.0 0.004
 Bipolar disorder2 8.1 37.8 348.0 43.8 2.2 122.0 13.2 1.3 374.0 43.0 2.3 F(1,165)=0.04 0.848
 Any mood disorder 26.2 19.1 1264.0 42.4 1.2 342.0 10.9 0.7 1495.0 46.7 1.2 F(1,448)=3.7 0.056
Anxiety disorders
 Panic disorder 4.8 24.4 288.0 48.7 2.7 50.0 11.3 1.9 242.0 40.0 2.6 F(1,97)=3.0 0.085
 Generalized anxiety disorder 7.2 21.1 356.0 43.3 1.8 78.0 9.6 1.2 381.0 47.0 1.9 F(1,134)=1.1 0.293
 Agoraphobia 3.1 20.4 220.0 67.3 2.0 23.0 7.1 1.2 82.0 25.6 1.8 F(1,56)=107.6 <0.001
 Social phobia3 12.2 25.9 1176.0 84.1 1.0 69.0 4.4 0.5 151.0 11.5 0.9 F(1,224)=725.6 <0.001
 Specific phobia4 15.9 15.6 1195.0 92.4 0.7 16.0 0.8 0.1 87.0 6.8 0.7 F(1,224)=1025.2 <0.001
 Childhood/Adult Separation Anxiety5 12.1 22.4 366.0 59.7 2.1 29.0 5.3 0.9 207.0 35.0 2.1 F(1,97)=34.0 <0.001
 Any anxiety disorder 27.6 18.4 2513.0 77.7 0.9 125.0 3.9 0.3 540.0 18.4 0.8 F(1,485)=777.7 <0.001
Externalizing disorders
 Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder6 5.9 32.7 294.0 99.5 0.3 1.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.5 0.3 F(1,49)=795.2 <0.001
 Conduct disorder7 7.6 46.0 384.0 89.3 1.3 23.0 4.3 1.1 22.0 6.4 0.8 F(1,64)=620.4 <0.001
 Intermittent explosive disorder8 10.6 29.0 430.0 75.4 1.3 42.0 8.0 0.8 97.0 16.6 1.3 F(1,80)=329.0 <0.001
 Oppositional defiant disorder9 7.3 37.6 338.0 93.2 0.7 17.0 4.2 0.6 8.0 2.6 0.4 F(1,63)=1149.5 <0.001
 Any externalizing disorder 11.3 31.6 1066.0 87.5 0.8 51.0 4.3 0.5 97.0 8.3 0.7 F(1,185)=1029.4 <0.001
Any disorder 43.9 17.9 3574.0 72.6 0.8 277.0 5.5 0.4 1074.0 21.9 0.8 F(1,674)=792.2 <0.001

SE - standard error. N is the unweighted sample size. All prevalence estimates are weighted based on Part II weights. Each row includes respondents who met lifetime criteria for AUD and the specified DSM-IV disorder.

1

ESEMED excluded.

2

Not assessed in ESEMED, Ukraine or South Africa.

3

Not assessed in Israel.

4

Not assessed in Ukraine, Israel, South Africa and Australia.

5

Not assessed in Japan, Ukraine, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, Iraq, Poland and Australia.

6

Not assessed in China, Japan, Nigeria, Ukraine, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.

7

Not assessed in Japan, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, Iraq and Australia.

8

Not assessed in ESEMED, Mexico, Israel, New Zealand, Australia, Murcia and Medellin.

9

Not assessed in China, Japan, Lebanon, Nigeria, Ukraine, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, Bulgaria, Iraq and Australia.

10

Wald design-corrected F-tests were used to determine if there is variation in prevalence between onset of DUD prior to mental disorder onset versus onset of DUD after mental disorder onset.

Discussion

The mean lifetime prevalence of AUDs in the 29 WMH surveys combined was 8.6%, ranging from 0.7% in Iraq to 22.7% in Australia. The combined mean 12-month AUD prevalence was 2.2%, ranging from 0.1% in Iraq to 5.9% in the Ukraine. This is a high level of disorder prevalence given the substantial health and economic burdens associated with AUDs 1820. Although the AUD prevalence estimates range widely across the WMH countries, these estimates and the variations are consistent with findings from other national and regional surveys 2131. There was also a relatively wide cross-national range of AUD prevalence estimates among lifetime non-abstainers. The combined lifetime prevalence of AUDs among non-abstainers was 10.7%, ranging from 1.7% in Italy to 28.3% in South Africa and the combined 12-month prevalence of AUDs among non-abstainers was 4.4% ranging from 1.1% in Japan to 7.3% in Iraq and New Zealand. Both AUD remission and persistence were common. The average prevalence of remission for at least the last year was 79.5% for ALA, 59.7% for ALD, and 75.2% for AUD while the average prevalence of past-year persistence was 21.4% for ALA, 36.7% for ALD and 25.5% for AUD.

The rank ordering across countries of lifetime prevalence estimates in the total population and non-abstainers was the same or similar for most countries but notably dissimilar in a few countries. For example, among all WMH surveys, Iraq had the lowest population prevalence of both past year and lifetime AUDs but for the subgroup of non-lifetime abstainers, Iraq had the highest 12-month prevalence and the third highest prevalence of lifetime AUDs. Iraq’s general population had a relatively low risk for AUDs which may suggest that AUDs are not a significant concern in Iraq. However, among those who had ever used alcohol, the risk for AUDs was comparatively high (19.2%). A large difference was also found in South Africa comparing the AUD prevalence in the general population (11.5%) and among users (28.3%).

There were significant differences in AUD prevalence across the WHO Regions. The Eastern Mediterranean region which had the lowest per capita alcohol consumption and the lowest proportion of drinkers also had the lowest past year and lifetime AUD prevalences. Presumably low consumption and high abstention are limiting factors on the development of AUDs in the general population of a country or region. Supporting this, the range of AUD prevalences across the WHO Regions narrows when considering only lifetime alcohol non-abstainers. However, the limiting effect of low consumption and high abstention may exert more influence at lower levels of alcohol consumption. While the annual per capita alcohol consumption of both France and Australia is relatively high at 12.2 liters of pure alcohol 32, the lifetime prevalence of AUDs was 7.1% for France and 22.7% for Australia. There are probably a number of contributors to this difference, but one possible factor might be a difference in the prevalence of heavy episodic or binge drinking which has been found to have relatively more severe consequences and association with AUDs than temperate patterns 33. Studies have found that France has the lowest level of binge drinking in Europe 34 while Australia has comparatively high rates 35,36. Some view heavy episodic drinking as a primary indicator of severe alcohol use problems and have recommended that AUDs, particularly dependence, be measured via heavy drinking over time with diagnosis thresholds set in average per day consumption of alcohol3739. The WMH findings suggest that alcohol consumption measures may enhance understanding of psychiatric epidemiological findings.

Other potentially limiting contextual factors may account for and possibly reflect some of the cross-national variation in prevalence of AUDs. Some of these may include social-cultural influences40,41 such as parental involvement, drinking culture, and stigma while other factors may be more policy related42,43 such as legal sanctions, enforcement of prohibitions and alcohol availability, all of which may be subject to change over time. The possible influence of these factors is important to interpretation of the country AUD prevalences and to inferences about explanations for the varying AUD prevalences. However, interpretations should not assume simple causality and speculations must be cautious regarding how prevalences might change if different environmental and social conditions were instituted.

There is evidence that in Europe, North America, and Australia adolescent levels of drinking have declined in recent years, perhaps in relation to changing socio-environmental factors4448. However, alcohol consumption is stable or increasing in other regions(1) and there are reports that abstaining or moderate alcohol using adolescents often considerably increase consumption to heavy drinking as young adults1,49,50 and that middle-age and older adults may be increasingly engaging in binge drinking51.

Despite changes in alcohol use in different ages and regions, varying sociocultural environments, and the range of AUD prevalences, the multinational WMH results confirm a number of well-documented clinical and epidemiological findings from more local studies. For example, AUD prevalences are much higher for men than women52. Risk for onset of AUD begins in adolescence with half of all lifetime cases beginning by age 23 although new onsets continue through later life53. Being married54 and more educated55 is associated with lower risk for AUD. Comorbidity with other mental disorders is common56 and mental health disorders often precede AUDs57. Despite the harms and impairments associated with AUDs, there is a low prevalence of treatment58. The consistency of the patterns of AUDs and correlates across the surveyed countries provides an informative perspective on the relatively consistent nature of AUDs. AUD prevalences were much higher for men than women with the odds for men having a lifetime AUD being 4.6 times the odds for women. Risk for onset of AUD began in adolescence with 15% of all lifetime cases developing before age 18 although new onsets continued through later life. Being older at time of interview, being married, being more educated, and having a higher household income were all associated with a lower risk for AUD and for AUD persistence.

The WMH findings also corroborate and extend previous research on AUD – MHD comorbidities 56,5861. Comorbidity with MHDs is common with 43.9% of individuals with a lifetime AUD having had at least one lifetime MHD. Among respondents with a lifetime MHD, 17.9% had a lifetime AUD. For most of the MHD categories considered (dysthymia, all phobias, separation anxiety, ADHD, conduct disorder, IED, and ODD) when there were MHD – AUD comorbidities, the onset of the MHD most often preceded the onset of the AUD. No significant trends in order of onset were observed for bipolar disorder, panic disorder, and GAD. The onset of AUD most often preceded the onset of only one disorder, MDD.

Onsets of MHD and AUD disorders are often not discrete events occurring at a single point in time and developing symptoms of comorbid disorders may reciprocally influence each other62,63. This complicates assessment of the exact temporal order of the onset of emerging disorders. In addition, research suggests that AUDs and mood, anxiety and other impulse-control related mental disorders may share common underlying influences or pathways 24,64. There is growing interest in characterizations of mental illness that rely on dimensional rather than categorical frameworks6567. Proposals such as these, most notably the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology - HiTOP, are in the early stages of formulation and empirical validation but might facilitate understanding of comorbidities, underlying influences, and common transdiagnostic factors. The cross-national findings of prevalent comorbidities in the WMH surveys lend support for further explorations of dimensional approaches. In addition, the WMH findings corroborate local findings and affirm the potential value of further understanding of MHD – SUD comorbidities which is planned for future WMH research.

Limitations of the WMH surveys must be considered. As data come from 27 countries there is not a full representation of all regions, income levels and other country characteristics. Response rates and the year in which the surveys were administered varied across surveys, and cross-national differences in willingness to disclose personal information about alcohol use and associated problems are possible. The respondent information is subject to the limitations of retrospective reporting. The WMH surveys rely solely on household surveys. Data from subgroups that may differ from the larger national populations in terms of AUD prevalences and correlates were not included such as the homeless, people in jails, prisons, hospitals, halfway houses, SUD inpatient treatment facilities, or living on military bases. Although the WMH sampling does not include individuals who were residing in inpatient treatment facilities at the time of the interview, the sampling does not exclude individuals who were either in outpatient treatment at the time of the interview or who received either outpatient or inpatient treatment at any time prior to the interview. Nevertheless, if the WMH had specifically included current clinical AUD samples it is likely that more severe cases would have been identified68.

Supplementary Material

Supplementary material

Funding Acknowledgements

The World Health Organization World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative is supported by the United States National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH; R01 MH070884), the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Pfizer Foundation, the United States Public Health Service (R13-MH066849, R01-MH069864, and R01 DA016558), the Fogarty International Center (FIRCA R03-TW006481), the Pan American Health Organization, Eli Lilly and Company, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc., GlaxoSmithKline, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. This study was supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) project grant (APP1081984). We thank the staff of the WMH Data Collection and Data Analysis Coordination Centres for assistance with instrumentation, fieldwork, and consultation on data analysis. None of the funders had any role in the design, analysis, interpretation of results, or preparation of this paper. The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and should not be construed to represent the views of the World Health Organization, other sponsoring organizations, agencies, or governments.

The 2007 Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. The Argentina survey -- Estudio Argentino de Epidemiología en Salud Mental (EASM) -- was supported by a grant from the Argentinian Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud de la Nación). The São Paulo Megacity Mental Health Survey is supported by the State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Thematic Project Grant 03/00204-3. The Bulgarian Epidemiological Study of common mental disorders EPIBUL is supported by the Ministry of Health and the National Center for Public Health Protection. The Chinese World Mental Health Survey Initiative is supported by the Pfizer Foundation. The Colombian National Study of Mental Health (NSMH) is supported by the Ministry of Social Protection. The Mental Health Study Medellín – Colombia was carried out and supported jointly by the Center for Excellence on Research in Mental Health (CES University) and the Secretary of Health of Medellín. The ESEMeD project is funded by the European Commission (Contracts QLG5-1999-01042; SANCO 2004123, and EAHC 20081308), (the Piedmont Region (Italy)), Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain (FIS 00/0028), Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Spain (SAF 2000-158-CE), Departament de Salut, Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain, DIUE de la Generalitat de Catalunya (2017 SGR 452; 2014 SGR 748), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBER CB06/02/0046, RETICS RD06/0011 REM-TAP), and other local agencies and by an unrestricted educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline. Implementation of the Iraq Mental Health Survey (IMHS) and data entry were carried out by the staff of the Iraqi MOH and MOP with direct support from the Iraqi IMHS team with funding from both the Japanese and European Funds through United Nations Development Group Iraq Trust Fund (UNDG ITF). The Israel National Health Survey is funded by the Ministry of Health with support from the Israel National Institute for Health Policy and Health Services Research and the National Insurance Institute of Israel. The World Mental Health Japan (WMHJ) Survey is supported by the Grant for Research on Psychiatric and Neurological Diseases and Mental Health (H13-SHOGAI-023, H14-TOKUBETSU-026, H16-KOKORO-013, H25-SEISHIN-IPPAN-006) from the Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The Lebanese Evaluation of the Burden of Ailments and Needs Of the Nation (L.E.B.A.N.O.N.) is supported by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, the WHO (Lebanon), National Institute of Health / Fogarty International Center (R03 TW006481-01), anonymous private donations to IDRAAC, Lebanon, and unrestricted grants from, Algorithm, AstraZeneca, Benta, Bella Pharma, Eli Lilly, Glaxo Smith Kline, Lundbeck, Novartis, OmniPharma, Pfizer, Phenicia, Servier, UPO. The Mexican National Comorbidity Survey (MNCS) is supported by The National Institute of Psychiatry Ramon de la Fuente (INPRFMDIES 4280) and by the National Council on Science and Technology (CONACyT-G30544- H), with supplemental support from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Te Rau Hinengaro: The New Zealand Mental Health Survey (NZMHS) is supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Health, Alcohol Advisory Council, and the Health Research Council. The Nigerian Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (NSMHW) is supported by the WHO (Geneva), the WHO (Nigeria), and the Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, Nigeria. The Northern Ireland Study of Mental Health was funded by the Health & Social Care Research & Development Division of the Public Health Agency. The Peruvian World Mental Health Study was funded by the National Institute of Health of the Ministry of Health of Peru. The Polish project Epidemiology of Mental Health and Access to Care –EZOP Project (PL 0256) was supported by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through funding from the EEA Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. EZOP project was co-financed by the Polish Ministry of Health. The Portuguese Mental Health Study was carried out by the Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Medical Sciences, NOVA University of Lisbon, with collaboration of the Portuguese Catholic University, and was funded by Champalimaud Foundation, Gulbenkian Foundation, Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and Ministry of Health. The Romania WMH study projects “Policies in Mental Health Area” and “National Study regarding Mental Health and Services Use” were carried out by National School of Public Health & Health Services Management (former National Institute for Research & Development in Health), with technical support of Metro Media Transilvania, the National Institute of Statistics-National Centre for Training in Statistics, SC, Cheyenne Services SRL, Statistics Netherlands and were funded by Ministry of Public Health (former Ministry of Health) with supplemental support of Eli Lilly Romania SRL. The South Africa Stress and Health Study (SASH) is supported by the US National Institute of Mental Health (R01-MH059575) and National Institute of Drug Abuse with supplemental funding from the South African Department of Health and the University of Michigan. The Psychiatric Enquiry to General Population in Southeast Spain – Murcia (PEGASUS-Murcia) Project has been financed by the Regional Health Authorities of Murcia (Servicio Murciano de Salud and Consejería de Sanidad y Política Social) and Fundación para la Formación e Investigación Sanitarias (FFIS) of Murcia. The Ukraine Comorbid Mental Disorders during Periods of Social Disruption (CMDPSD) study is funded by the US National Institute of Mental Health (RO1-MH61905). The US National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH; U01-MH60220) with supplemental support from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF; Grant 044708), and the John W. Alden Trust. Louisa Degenhardt is supported by a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship (no. 1135991) and NIDA NIH grant R01 DA044170-02. John McGrath is supported by the Danish National Research Foundation (Niels Bohr Professorship), and the John Cade Fellowship (APP1056929) from National Health and Medical Research Council. A complete list of all within-country and cross-national WMH publications can be found at http://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/wmh/.

Disclosure/Conflict of Interest:

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors only and do not necessarily represent the views, official policy, or position of the US. Department of Health and Human Services or any of its affiliated institutions or agencies. Dr. Glantz’s role on this study is through his involvement as a Science Officer on U01-MH60220. He had no involvement in the other cited grants. In the past 3 years, Dr. Kessler received support for his epidemiological studies from Sanofi Aventis; was a consultant for Johnson & Johnson Wellness and Prevention, Sage Pharmaceuticals, Shire, Takeda; and served on an advisory board for the Johnson & Johnson Services Inc. Lake Nona Life Project. Kessler is a co-owner of DataStat, Inc., a market research firm that carries out healthcare research. In the past 3 years, L.D. has received investigator-initiated untied educational grants for studies of opioid medications in Australia from Indivior, Mundipharma and Seqirus.

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