The purpose of this study is to estimate the extent to which respondents who report low "usual" drinking frequencies may be misclassified either as "current drinkers" or as "ex-drinkers" based on a specified timeframe such as the prior 12 months. Using a subsample of 4205 respondents to the Year 2000 National Alcohol Survey, those respondents who reported drinking "less than once a month but at least once a year" (14%) or "less than once a year" (6%) were also asked if they had consumed a whole drink of any alcoholic beverage in the 12 months using dates to anchor the question. The results indicate that 15% (84/571) of those who originally reported they drank at least once/year had not had any alcohol in the 12 months and 33% (90/270) who reported they drank less than once/year said they had consumed alcohol in the past 12 months. There were no significant differences found for these two groups in terms of gender, ethnicity and income. Younger (18-29 years) respondents were more likely to be reclassified as drinkers based on the additional period-specific question. No differences were found for mean volume, mean 5+ days, mean number of social consequences and mean number of dependence symptoms when the unadjusted and adjusted samples of current drinkers were compared. While few changes occurred based on how "current drinker" is defined, these results concur with cognitive studies which emphasize the need to be clear to respondents about the timeframe in which the survey questions are asked.
Learning Objectives: Clearly identify ways to define current drinkers in national surveys; Understand the impact of different definitions of current drinking on prevalence rates of alcohol-related problems
Keywords: Alcohol Use, Methodology
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