THE USE OF ALCOHOL HOME DELIVERY SERVICES BY MALE PROBLEM DRINKERS - A PRELIMINARY-REPORT

Alcohol home delivery services (AHDS) provide convenient and confident ial access to alcohol, yet little is known about their use. The purpos e of this report is to present preliminary data describing the use of AHDS by problem drinkers. We surveyed 174 males regarding social and d emographic characteristics, alcohol use history, and use of AHDS. Use of AHDS was most common among problem drinkers. When statistically con trolling for the effects of demographic and social characteristics, re gular drinkers without a history of alcohol problems were significantl y less likely to have had alcohol delivered than problem drinkers, p = .0036. Contrary to expectation, medically ill alcoholics with advance d and disabling medical complications of heavy drinking were not more likely than other problem drinkers to have alcohol delivered. Living i n an urban area and not having a vehicle available were associated wit h the use of AHDS. The public health and safety considerations of alco hol availability via home delivery are discussed.