Changes in alcohol consumption in Denmark: A comparison of national surveys from 2003 and 2011

The first national survey on alcohol and drugs was conducted by the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research in 2011. Many questions are identical to those included in a 2003 national survey on alcohol use used in another study. The purpose of this paper is to present new data for alcohol use in Denmark, and to investigate changes between 2003 and 2011. Data for 2003 come from a CATI survey conducted by a private marketing firm. The final sample was 2030 respondents representing a cooperation rate of 50%. The 2011 data come from a survey conducted by Statistics Denmark in September/October. Administration modes were internet, then telephone. The final sample was 5133 respondents; response rate of 64%. Measures include current drinking status, heavy drinking, RSOD and quantity per drinking day, and items from the AUDIT. Control variables include age, marital status, employment, education, income. Preliminary results indicate that the percentage of current drinkers and heavy drinkers has declined since 2003. The prevalence of monthly RSOD appears to have remained stable. However, there has been a marked increase in the prevalence of alcohol-related problems among all age groups of men and women. The results point to a similar phenomenon seen in North America in the 1980s: i.e., as consumption declined, alcohol-related problems increased. Possible explanations could be secular trends in which a higher sensibility at the societal level lead to respondents' increased consciousness of their own drinking. Further research will examine consumption distributions and investigate the role of administration mode effects.