Pattern of alcohol consumption among government employees in Thimphu Bhutan
Authors:   , Mothey Robin 
Published: September 2023

Alcohol consumption is one of the most common health risk behaviors which is a leading cause of various health problems and even to death globally. Excess alcohol use results in 2.5 million deaths every year. Around 320,000 young people aged between 15 and 29 years die from alcohol-related causes, resulting in 9% of all deaths in that age group. At the country level, this ranges from 0.5 to 5% of the population. This study was carried out to identify the pattern of alcohol consumption among government employees in Thimphu, Bhutan. The study design was a cross-sectional study. Purposive sampling method was used for sampling to choose the study area. Data collection was carried out by face to face interview of the total of 385 participants. The respondents were screened using the standard AUDIT screening procedure formulated by WHO. After that the respondents who were eligible for the face to face interview were interviewed with proper written informed consent. SPSS software version 22 was used for descriptive statistics, chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test. Among 385 respondents who consumed alcohol, the highest number of males (54.3%) consumed beer while maximum number of females (59.9%) consumed wine. They were ranked into three categories based on their AUDIT (according to WHO guideline) scores namely Low risk drinkers (Score 0-7), Hazardous drinkers (Score 8-15) and Dependence (Score 16-19). The highest number of females (90.9%) fell under the category of low risk drinkers than males (71.8%). Maximum number of males (27.7%) were hazardous drinkers than females (9.1%). Only one male (0.5%) fell under the category of dependence. Five types of alcoholic beverages are commonly used in Bhutan. Among them beer was the most preferred alcohol by males and wine was mostly consumed by females. Age, gender, marital status, annual income, work experience, age at first drink, expenses on alcohol, health problems, type and amount of alcohol consumed in lifetime, type, amount and frequency of alcohol consumed in last year and type of alcohol consumed in last 30 days by respondents were significantly associated with pattern of alcohol consumption with p value<0.001.Alcohol consumption is one of the most common health risk behaviors which is a leading cause of various health problems and even to death globally. Excess alcohol use results in 2.5 million deaths every year. Around 320,000 young people aged between 15 and 29 years die from alcohol-related causes, resulting in 9% of all deaths in that age group. At the country level, this ranges from 0.5 to 5% of the population. This study was carried out to identify the pattern of alcohol consumption among government employees in Thimphu, Bhutan. The study design was a cross-sectional study. Purposive sampling method was used for sampling to choose the study area. Data collection was carried out by face to face interview of the total of 385 participants. The respondents were screened using the standard AUDIT screening procedure formulated by WHO. After that the respondents who were eligible for the face to face interview were interviewed with proper written informed consent. SPSS software version 22 was used for descriptive statistics, chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test. Among 385 respondents who consumed alcohol, the highest number of males (54.3%) consumed beer while maximum number of females (59.9%) consumed wine. They were ranked into three categories based on their AUDIT (according to WHO guideline) scores namely Low risk drinkers (Score 0-7), Hazardous drinkers (Score 8-15) and Dependence (Score 16-19). The highest number of females (90.9%) fell under the category of low risk drinkers than males (71.8%). Maximum number of males (27.7%) were hazardous drinkers than females (9.1%). Only one male (0.5%) fell under the category of dependence. Five types of alcoholic beverages are commonly used in Bhutan. Among them beer was the most preferred alcohol by males and wine was mostly consumed by females. Age, gender, marital status, annual income, work experience, age at first drink, expenses on alcohol, health problems, type and amount of alcohol consumed in lifetime, type, amount and frequency of alcohol consumed in last year and type of alcohol consumed in last 30 days by respondents were significantly associated with pattern of alcohol consumption with p value <0.001. Alcohol consumption is one of the most common health risk behaviors which is a leading cause of various health problems and even to death globally. Excess alcohol use results in 2.5 million deaths every year. Around 320,000 young people aged between 15 and 29 years die from alcohol-related causes, resulting in 9% of all deaths in that age group. At the country level, this ranges from 0.5 to 5% of the population. This study was carried out to identify the pattern of alcohol consumption among government employees in Thimphu, Bhutan. The study design was a cross-sectional study. Purposive sampling method was used for sampling to choose the study area. Data collection was carried out by face to face interview of the total of 385 participants. The respondents were screened using the standard AUDIT screening procedure formulated by WHO. After that the respondents who were eligible for the face to face interview were interviewed with proper written informed consent. SPSS software version 22 was used for descriptive statistics, chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test. Among 385 respondents who consumed alcohol, the highest number of males (54.3%) consumed beer while maximum number of females (59.9%) consumed wine. They were ranked into three categories based on their AUDIT (according to WHO guideline) scores namely Low risk drinkers (Score 0-7), Hazardous drinkers (Score 8-15) and Dependence (Score 16-19). The highest number of females (90.9%) fell under the category of low risk drinkers than males (71.8%). Maximum number of males (27.7%) were hazardous drinkers than females (9.1%). Only one male (0.5%) fell under the category of dependence. Five types of alcoholic beverages are commonly used in Bhutan. Among them beer was the most preferred alcohol by males and wine was mostly consumed by females. Age, gender, marital status, annual income, work experience, age at first drink, expenses on alcohol, health problems, type and amount of alcohol consumed in lifetime, type, amount and frequency of alcohol consumed in last year and type of alcohol consumed in last 30 days by respondents were significantly associated with pattern of alcohol consumption with p value<0.001.