Assessment methods for alcohol consumption, prevalence of high risk drinking and harm: a sensitivity analysis

Background There are no standardized ways to assess alcohol consumption in epidemiological studies. The main objective of the present study was to com pare three widely used methods for assessing alcohol consumption with respe ct to resulting prevalence estimates for high risk drinking and harm as def ined by morbidity and mortality indicators. Methods A within-subjects design was used to compare a quantity frequency, a graduated frequency, and a weekly drinking recall measure. Data consisted of a representative sample of 3961 adult residents of the province of Onta rio, Canada, who participated in a multi-wave cross-sectional survey betwee n 1990-1994. Cross-tabulation, Spearman correlation, and standard methodolo gies for prevalence-based cost-of-illness studies were used. Results The graduated frequency measure consistently yielded higher estimat es of the prevalences of high risk drinking and harm. Differences were mark ed on all indicators, but were most pronounced for harmful drinking as defi ned by consuming an average of >60 g pure alcohol per day for males, and >4 0 g per day for females. Prevalence estimates of harmful drinking were almo st five times higher for graduated frequency versus weekly drinking measure s, and almost three times higher for graduated frequency versus quantity fr equency measures. Conclusions The characteristics of different measures of alcohol consumptio n should be considered in future research in epidemiology.