Scottish Health Survey - topic report: equality groups

References and Notes for Section Four

1. Drummond, C., Deluca, P., Oyefeso, A., Rome, A., Scrafton, S., Rice, P. (2009). Scottish Alcohol Needs Assessment. London: Institute of Psychiatry, King's College.

2. See for example the North west Public Health Observatory's Local Alcohol Profiles for England, which use these definitions - www.nwph.net/alcohol/lape/

3. For participants aged 16 and 17, details on alcohol consumption were collected as part of a special smoking and drinking self-completion questionnaire. Some 18 and 19 year olds also completed the self-completion if the interviewer felt it was appropriate. For all other adult participants, the information was collected as part of the face-to-face interview. The method of estimating consumption follows that originally developed for use in the General Household Survey and is also used in the Health Survey for England. For six types of alcoholic drink (normal strength beer/lager/cider/shandy, strong beer/lager/cider, spirits/liqueurs, fortified wines, wine, and alcoholic soft drinks), participants were asked about how often they had drunk each one in the past twelve months, and how much they had usually drunk on any one day. The amount given to the latter question was converted into units of alcohol, with a unit equal to half a pint of normal strength beer/lager/cider/alcoholic soft drink, a single measure of spirits, one glass of wine, or one small glass of fortified wine. A half pint of strong beer/lager/cider was equal to 1.5 units. The number of units was then multiplied by the frequency to give an estimate of weekly consumption of each type of drink. The frequency multipliers were:

The separate consumption figures for each type of drink were rounded to two decimal places and then added together to give an overall weekly consumption figure. The results were then banded, using the same bands as the ones used in the 1995 Scottish Health Survey and in all years of the Health Survey for England. The bandings for men are as follows:

1 Under 1 unit (less than or equal to 0.50 units)
2 1-10 units (over 0.50 units, but less than or equal to 10.00 units)
3 Over 10-21 units (over 10.00 units, but less than or equal to 21.00 units)
4 Over 21-35 units (over 21.00 units, but less than or equal to 35.00 units)
5 Over 35-50 units (over 35.00 units, but less than or equal to 50.00 units)
6 Over 50 (over 50.00 units)

The bands for women were similar, but with breaks at 7, 14, 21 and 35 units, instead of 10, 21, 35 and 50.

4. Participants aged 16 and over were asked whether they had drunk alcohol in the past seven days. If they had, they were asked on how many days and, if on more than one, whether they had drunk the same amount on each day or more on one day than others. If they had drunk more on one day than others, they were asked how much they drank on that day. If they had drunk the same on several days, they were asked how much they drank on the most recent of those days. If they had drunk on only one day, they were asked how much they had drunk on that day.

5. Grant, I., Springbett, A., and Graham, L. Alcohol attributable mortality and morbidity: alcohol population attributable fractions for Scotland, 2009. ISD Scotland/Scottish Public Health Observatory. www.scotpho.org.uk/alcoholIPAFreport/

6. Bhala, N., Fischerbacher, C. and Bhopal, R. (2010) Mortality for Alcohol-related Harm by Country of Birth in Scotland, 2000-2004: Potential Lessons for Prevention. Alcohol and Alcohol

7. Heim, D., Hunter, S.C., Ross, A.J., Bakshi, N., Davies, J.B., Flatley, K.J. & Meer, N. (2004) Alcohol Consumption. Perceptions of Community Responses and Attitudes to Service Provision: Results from a Survey of Indian, Chinese and Pakistani Young People in Greater Glasgow, Scotland, UK. Alcohol and Alcoholism. Vol. 3, No 3. pp. 220-226

8. Heim, D., Hunter, S.C., Ross, A.J., Bakshi, N., Davies, J.B., Flatley, K.J. & Meer, N. (2004) Alcohol Consumption. Perceptions of Community Responses and Attitudes to Service Provision: Results from a Survey of Indian, Chinese and Pakistani Young People in Greater Glasgow, Scotland, UK. Alcohol and Alcoholism. Vol. 3, No 3. pp. 220-226

9. Gruskin, E.P., Gordon, N. (2006) Gay/Lesbian sexual orientation increased risk of cigarette smoking and heavy drinking among members of a large Northern California health plan. BMC Public Health. 6:241