Transitions between lifetime alcohol use, regular use and remission: Results from the 2004 South African Stress and Health Survey.

BACKGROUND: Hazardous alcohol consumption presents a serious threat to the health and wellbeing of all people and is linked to chronic and acute health problems.

OBJECTIVES: To: (i) estimate the prevalence of alcohol use disorders and remission from alcohol abuse and dependence in the South African (SA) population; and (ii) determine whether age of onset, education, sex and level of cohort alcohol use are associated with commencement of use, regularity of use, and transitions to and remission from more harmful levels of use.

METHODS: The study was a nationally representative sample of 4 315 individuals aged ≥18 years. In a multistage, area probability sample of adults, data were collected from 4 311 alcohol users using the World Mental Health Survey Initiative version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview version 3.0. All analyses were carried out using SAS version 9.4.

RESULTS: Of the respondents, 40.6% indicated lifetime use of alcohol, 35.3% reported regular use, and 8.8% met diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse and 2.7% for alcohol dependence. The prevalence of remission from lifetime abuse without dependence was 55.9%. The median age of onset of alcohol use was 20 years, with transition from use to regular use occurring within ~1 - 3 years. The results suggest that males, students (compared with those who had completed a high level of education) and greater alcohol use in the respondent's birth cohort were all associated with increased odds of commencing alcohol use. For transitions from use to regular use, increased odds were associated with males, greater birth cohort alcohol use, low education and later (>21 years) onset of first alcohol use.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that cohort alcohol use is associated with transition to commencement of use and from use to regular use in the general SA population. The study further highlighted the need for interventions among males and university students, given that hazardous alcohol consumption seems to be the most prevalent public health issue encountered by university students and males.