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Fulltext AUDIT-C as a possible source of referral during the COVID-19 pandemic for participants presenting patterns of high-risk alcohol consumption in a South African township

Goldschmidt L, Mncina B, Langa M, Rebello S, Budaza T, Tshabalala J, et al.

BMC Public Health, 2023 Sep 30;23(1):1890.
PMID: 37775803 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-16775-5

BACKGROUND: Unhealthy alcohol use is a leading contributor to premature death and disability worldwide. The World Health Organization's Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health ranked South Africa as having one of the riskiest patterns of alcohol consumption, which calls for intervention. Recognising the need for effective primary care interventions, particularly in the absence of appropriate alcohol-related harm reduction policies at national and local levels, this paper highlights the opportunities and challenges associated with a two-pronged, community-centred approach to the identification of unhealthy alcohol use and interventions.
METHODS: This approach included the use of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) as a means of screening to identify individuals at moderate (score of 5-7) to high risk (score of 8 +) alcohol use, raising awareness, and investigating the potential utility of brief advice and referrals as a means of reducing risk.
RESULTS: Of the 54,187 participants, 43.0% reported engaging in moderate-risk alcohol consumption, with 22.1% reporting high-risk alcohol consumption. Resistance to brief advice was observed to increase with higher AUDIT-C scores. Similarly, participants engaging in high-risk alcohol consumption were resistant to accepting treatment referrals, with fewer than 10% open to receiving a referral.
CONCLUSIONS: While men were most likely to report patterns of high-risk alcohol consumption, they were more resistant to accepting referrals. Additionally, participants who were willing to receive brief advice were often resistant to taking active steps to alter their alcohol use. This study highlights the need to consider how to prevent harmful patterns of alcohol use effectively and holistically, especially in low socioeconomic settings through primary health care and community services.

Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking/prevention & control
Validation of the drinking refusal self-efficacy questionnaire in Arab and Asian samples

AlMarri TS, Oei TP, AbRahman RM

Addict Behav, 2009 Sep;34(9):776-8.
PMID: 19481874 DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2009.05.009

The influence of an individuals' belief in their ability to resist drinking alcohol has recognised importance in understanding the pattern of drinking behaviours among Caucasian samples. Measures used to investigate this construct, such as the drinking refusal self-efficacy questionnaire-revised (DRSEQ-R; [Oei, T. P. S., Hasking, P. A., & Young, R. M. (2005). Drinking refusal self-efficacy questionnaire-revised (DRSEQ-R): A new factor structure with confirmatory factor analysis. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 78, 297-307.]) have been widely used and have established psychometric properties. However, the exploration of the utility of this questionnaire with samples of different ethnicity, religion and living in different countries remains scarce. In the current study, Arab Muslim samples living in the United Arab Emirates and Oman (n=356) and Asian predominately Muslim samples living in Malaysia and Indonesia (n=256) were used. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the DRSEQ-R has a three factor structure. Internal consistency ranged from alpha .96 to alpha .86 and validity was good. This study offers evidence of the utility of this measure with Arab and Asian samples.

Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking/prevention & control
Private troubles to public issue: empowering communities to reduce alcohol-related harm in Sabah, Malaysia

Lasimbang HB, Shoesmith W, Mohd Daud MN, Kaur N, Jin MC, Singh J, et al.

Health Promot Int, 2017 02 01;32(1):122-129.
PMID: 28180267 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/dav090

Summary: Alcohol is the number three contributor to the burden of disease worldwide so must remain a priority health promotion issue internationally. Malaysia is a Muslim country and alcohol-related harm was not seen as a priority until recently, because it only affects a minority of the population. Sabah has more than 30 different ethnic groups, and alcohol has a traditional role in the cultural practices of many of these groups. In 2009, the Intervention Group for Alcohol Misuse (IGAM) was formed, under the umbrella of Mercy Malaysia by a group of healthcare workers, academics, members of the Clergy and people who were previously alcohol-dependent concerned about the harmful effects of excessive alcohol consumption. IGAM in collaboration with other bodies have organized public seminars, visited villages and schools, encouraged the formation of a support group and trained healthcare professionals in health promotion intervention. The focus later changed to empowering communities to find solutions to alcohol-related harm in their community in a way which is sensitive to their culture. A standard tool-kit was developed using WHO materials as a guide. Village committees were formed and adapted the toolkit according to their needs. This strategy has been shown to be effective, in that 90% of the 20 committees formed are actively and successfully involved in health promotion to reduce alcohol-related harm in their communities.

Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking/prevention & control*
Fulltext Protecting women and girls from tobacco and alcohol promotion

Feeny E, Dain K, Varghese C, Atiim GA, Rekve D, Gouda HN

BMJ, 2021 Jul 19;374:n1516.
PMID: 34281828 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.n1516

Gender transformative measures could curb the industries’ expansion into low and middle income countries, contain the burden of chronic disease, and promote gender equity, argue Emma Feeny and colleagues

Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking/prevention & control*
Fulltext Developing an alcohol policy assessment toolkit: application in the western Pacific

Carragher N, Byrnes J, Doran CM, Shakeshaft A

Bull World Health Organ, 2014 Oct 01;92(10):726-33.
PMID: 25378726 DOI: 10.2471/BLT.13.130708

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the development and feasibility of a tool to assess the adequacy of national policies aimed at reducing alcohol consumption and related problems.
METHODS: We developed a quantitative tool - the Toolkit for Evaluating Alcohol policy Stringency and Enforcement (TEASE-16) - to assess the level of stringency and enforcement of 16 alcohol control policies. TEASE-16 was applied to policy data from nine study areas in the western Pacific: Australia, China excluding Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Viet Nam. Correlation and regression analyses were then used to examine the relationship between alcohol policy scores and income-adjusted levels of alcohol consumption per capita.
FINDINGS: Vast differences exist in how alcohol control policies are implemented in the western Pacific. Out of a possible 100 points, the nine study areas achieved TEASE-16 scores that ranged from 24.1 points for the Philippines to 67.5 points for Australia. Study areas with high policy scores - indicating relatively strong alcohol policy frameworks - had lower alcohol consumption per capita. Sensitivity analyses indicated scores and rankings for each study area remained relatively stable across different weighting schemes, indicating that TEASE-16 was robust.
CONCLUSION: TEASE-16 could be used by international and national regulatory bodies and policy-makers to guide the design, implementation, evaluation and refinement of effective policies to reduce alcohol consumption and related problems.

Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking/prevention & control*
Alcohol Addiction- Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Subtype 5 and its Ligands: How They All Come Together?

Kumar J, Ismail Z, Hatta NH, Baharuddin N, Hapidin H, Get Bee YT, et al.

Curr Drug Targets, 2018;19(8):907-915.
PMID: 28494749 DOI: 10.2174/1389450118666170511144302

In the past decade, many studies have highlighted the role of metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 (mGlu5) modulators in attenuating alcohol-related biological effects such as alcohol consumption, alcohol-seeking and relapse-like behaviors. Taken together, these findings suggest that pharmacological agents acting at mGlu5 could be promising tools in curbing inebriation. mGlu5s are present abundantly in brain regions known to be involved in emotion regulation, motivation and drug administration. On a cellular level, they are primarily located at the postsynaptic part of the neuron where the receptor is functionally linked to various downstream proteins that are involved in cell signaling and gene transcription that mediate the alcohol-induced neuroplasticity. As well, the discovery of a functional link between mGlu5 and a specific isozyme, Protein Kinase C epsilon (PKCε) in mediating the attenuating effects of selective negative allosteric modulators of mGlu5 such as methyl- 6(phenylethynyl)pyridine (MPEP) and 3-((2-methyl-4-thiazolyl)ethynyl)pyridine (MTEP) has sparked interesting speculations. In this article, we shall review the following: the effects of acute and chronic alcohol intake on mGlu5 signaling; the effects of mGlu5 ligands on alcohol-related neurobehavioral changes that are currently being studied both at pre-clinical and clinical stages; and the mechanisms underlying the pharmacological effects of these drugs.

Matched MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking/prevention & control*