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MPH Thesis - Swift ,W

A multivariate analysis of gender differences in alcohol and hypnosedative use: 1989-90 national health survey
Swift W (1997)

Abstract:
Alcohol and hypnosedative use patterns are widely believed to differ in men and women. While much evidence for such differences is based on population studies of substance use and health, the analyses on which the results are based rarely, if ever, attempt to control for the confounding effects of other variables on the relationship between gender and substance use.

Multivariate analyses were conducted to investigate gender differences in alcohol and hypnosedative use among respondents to the 1989-90 National Health Survey, a large population study on the health status of Australians. Gender differences were assessed on (a) the likelihood of alcohol consumption in the week prior to interview; (b) the amount of alcohol consumed (defined as a categorical and a continuous measure); and (c) the likelihood of hypnosedative consumption in the fortnight prior to interview. The effect of other variables to potentially modify this relationship was investigated by examining effect sizes in models with and without confounders present.

Gender differences generally remained robust despite adjustment for confounders. Men were more likely to consume alcohol than women, and were more likely to consume alcohol at levels that could be harmful to their health, although these effects were modified in some cases by age and smoking status. Women were more likely to have taken hypnosedative medication in the fortnight prior to interview, although age, insomnia and anxiety were major modifiers of this association.

These findings indicate the need for public health approaches to target unsafe drinking among men, in particular. It is not clear that hypnosedative use is primarily a gender issue. Hypnosedative use and hypnosedative prescribing need to be examined in further detail, especially the clinical implications of prescribing medication for insomnia, and among the elderly. While population surveys are an important tool in discovering patterns of substance use, their limitations must be borne in mind, and they should be supplemented by more specific research.

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