Alcohol abuse affects every gender, race, and nationality. In the US alone, 17.6 million people (about 1 in every 12 adults), abuse alcohol or become dependent on alcohol. In general, men are more alcohol-dependent than women and experience more problems, but across both genders, problems are highest for young adults aging from 18-29 years old. People who start drinking at an early age are at a much higher risk of developing these problems as well, compared to those who start at or after the age of 21.
Surveillance is used to assess my problem because it is necessary to perform epidemiological studies when researching substance abuse. Close observation of all aspects of alcohol consumption must be made so that the problem is defined and it's specific statistics noted before they are assessed.
I found several statistics regarding this topic while trying to quantify it's magnitude in the US. They are not quite specific enough yet (I'm considering focusing on men and women and maybe the differences between the two instead of one or the other), but they will help me create a problem statement. Some of these are direct indicators, which measure the problem of alcohol abuse directly, and others are indirect indicators, which measure alcohol abuse by measuring related factors. I'll be sure to label each statistic as either direct or indirect. As I searched for statistics online, I realized that I wanted to focus on drinking among adolescents, specifically college-age students, above the age of 18 and until the age of 20 or 21. Since most statistics are in terms of 18 to 20 year olds, I might just settle for that.
(indirect)
16-24 year olds have the second highest alcohol-related traffic fatalities according to age groups in the US from 1982-2004
(indirect)
Lower percentage of alcohol-involved fatal crashes occurred for women drivers in the US from 1998-2004
(direct)
Rates of drinking increase dramatically from 9th to 10th grade in high schools.
(direct)
Statistics of mean age at first use of alcohol by age, sex, and race among ever-drinkers from ages 12-20 in the US from 1991-2007, show that people of all races and sexes had their first drink between the ages of 12 and 20.
(direct)
Statistics of the mean frequency of drinking in the past 30 days by age, sex, and race among current drinkers(this is significant because they didn't stop drinking) from ages 12-20 from 1991-2007, show that their first drinks occurred between the ages of 18-20, despite race and sex.
(direct)
Binge drinking increases dramatically as age goes up and people reach adolescence and then college-age.
(indirect)
Statistics on the prevalence of driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol in the past 12 months by age, sex and race among 12-20 year olds in the US from 1995-2007, show a huge increase for 18-20 year olds, obviously.
Aafia,
ReplyDeleteI really like your topic, and love the indicators that you included - you're definitely on the right track here. Keep up the good work, and include your problem statement on the next blog!