Exploring the Association Between Homebrew Alcohol Consumption and Past Month Peak Alcohol Use Across Two Small Cities in China.

BACKGROUND

Unrecorded alcohol, commonly called 'homebrew', represents an important and emerging public health issue having been linked with poisonings and deaths internationally. There is a paucity, however, of empirical data on homebrew consumption and its association with regulated/recorded alcohol use. The purpose of this examination is to determine whether homebrew consumption is associated with greater recorded alcohol use.

METHODS

This investigation is a secondary analysis of data collected via household interviews in two Chinese cities (Jiangshan and Lanxi) through the Global Smart Drinking Goals initiative. Independent sample t-tests compared the greatest number of drinks consumed in the past 30 days among those who had consumed homebrew in the past month and those who had not. Multiple regression assessed the association between homebrew and recorded alcohol consumption, while simultaneously testing for other important demographic factors.

RESULTS

The greatest number of alcoholic drinks consumed on one day in the past month was significantly more among persons who drank homebrew [t(348) = -3.05, p < 0.001]. Specifically, persons who consumed homebrew drank more than twice the number of drinks (N = 132, M = 11.7, SD = 26.2) than respondents who had not consumed homebrew alcohol (N = 218, M = 5.3, SD = 12.9). Based on regression results, there was a significant association between home-brewed alcohol consumption (b = 7.07, t = 3.20, p < 0.001) and the maximum number of drinks consumed in the past month among survey respondents.

CONCLUSIONS

Consumption of homebrew is associated with higher levels of peak alcohol consumption in the past month. Future public health initiatives need to educate the public on the associated dangers of consuming homebrew alcohol.