Petri Huhtanen

The effect of survey sampling frame on coverage: the level of and changes in alcohol-related mortality in Finland as a test case.

AIMS Exclusion of, for example, the homeless and institutionalized from survey sampling frames has been suggested to be one important reason for low coverage rate of surveys. We assess this, using mortality data from Finland, where in 2004 alcohol taxes were lowered by one-third, and surveys were unable to capture the 10% increase in per capita consumption. DESIGN AND MEASUREMENT We compared the level of and the change in alcohol-related mortality in 2001-03 and 2004-05 in (1) the whole population, (2) the population included in the sampling frame of many Finnish surveys and (3) the population excluded from the sampling frame. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Finns aged 15 years and above, linked individually to cause of death data. FINDINGS The population outside survey sampling frames constituted 1.4% of the whole population and had a high rate of alcohol-related deaths. For example, among men the rate of directly alcohol-attributable causes was 3.7 times higher than in the survey population. Among women the rate ratio was 4.6. The exclusion of the non-survey population reduced the estimated level of alcohol-related mortality by 1-4%. Similarly, the non-survey population had only a marginal effect on the estimates of temporal change. CONCLUSIONS Alcohol-related mortality, and hence probably also alcohol consumption, is on average much higher in the subgroups of populations excluded from survey sampling frames. Due to the small size of the excluded group in the Finnish context, this has only a small effect on population-level estimates.

People are buying and importing more alcohol than ever before. Where is it all going

Aims: Removal of import quotas for alcoholic beverages from other EU countries and cuts on alcohol taxes by one third on average resulted in approximately a 10% increase in per capita alcohol consumption in 2004, and a further 3% in 2005. Our aim was to study which population groups accounted for this increase, and what happened to self-reported alcohol-related harm. Methods: A panel survey with a general population random sample was carried out. The current data are the first and third waves of the panel. A questionnaire was sent in autumn 2003 to 4000 Finns aged 15 to 69. In 2005, the questinnaire was mailed to 1209 persons who responded both in 2003 and in 2004 and who agreed to participate in the follow-up. Findings: The respondents themselves reported no increase in either their own consumption or in alcohol-related harm from 2003 to 2005, and there were few changes by subgroup of the population either. Conclusions: The survey data did not capture the increase in consumption that has been observed in per capita consumption. The permanent consequences of the changes in the alcohol situation in 2004 remain to be seen in future statistics and studies.

The effect of survey sampling frame on coverage: the level of and changes in alcohol-related mortality in Finland as a test case

AIMS Exclusion of, for example, the homeless and institutionalized from survey sampling frames has been suggested to be one important reason for low coverage rate of surveys. We assess this, using mortality data from Finland, where in 2004 alcohol taxes were lowered by one-third, and surveys were unable to capture the 10% increase in per capita consumption. DESIGN AND MEASUREMENT We compared the level of and the change in alcohol-related mortality in 2001-03 and 2004-05 in (1) the whole population, (2) the population included in the sampling frame of many Finnish surveys and (3) the population excluded from the sampling frame. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Finns aged 15 years and above, linked individually to cause of death data. FINDINGS The population outside survey sampling frames constituted 1.4% of the whole population and had a high rate of alcohol-related deaths. For example, among men the rate of directly alcohol-attributable causes was 3.7 times higher than in the survey population. Among women the rate ratio was 4.6. The exclusion of the non-survey population reduced the estimated level of alcohol-related mortality by 1-4%. Similarly, the non-survey population had only a marginal effect on the estimates of temporal change. CONCLUSIONS Alcohol-related mortality, and hence probably also alcohol consumption, is on average much higher in the subgroups of populations excluded from survey sampling frames. Due to the small size of the excluded group in the Finnish context, this has only a small effect on population-level estimates.

Experienced Harm from Other People's Drinking: A Comparison of Northern European Countries.

Objective This study addresses how experienced harm from other peoples drinking varies between six Northern European countries by comparing 1) the prevalence of experienced harm and 2) the correlates of harm. Method The data comprise 18ȓ69-year olds who participated in general population surveys in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Scotland during the period 2008–2013. Comparative data were available on five types of harm: physical abuse, damage of clothes/belongings, verbal abuse, being afraid, and being kept awake at night. Results This study shows that harms from others drinking are commonly experienced in all six countries. Being kept awake at night is the most common harm, while being physically harmed is the least common. The proportions that reported at least one of the five problems were highest in Finland and Iceland and lowest in Norway, but also relatively low in Sweden. Across countries, the level of harm was highest among young, single, urban residents, and for some countries among women and those who frequently drank to intoxication themselves. Conclusions The study revealed large differences in the prevalence of harm in countries with fairly similar drinking cultures. However, the correlates of such experiences were similar across countries. Possible explanations of the findings are discussed, including differences in study design.

Ways of regulating one's drinking: A factor analysis of a Finnish general population sample

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS This article studies the various ways of regulating drinking used by Finns and how these vary between men and women, and in different groups of age, educational attainment and alcohol consumption. DESIGN AND METHODS The data consist of a cross-section of survey data collected in Finland in 2005. The response rate was 53%. The analysis was restricted to respondents who had used alcohol in the last 12 months and were between 15 and 71 years of age (n = 1013). A factor analysis was performed to discover underlying dimensions in the ways of regulation. In order to study the relationship between the ways of regulation and drinking habits, correlations and regression analyses were used. RESULTS The ways of regulating ones drinking extracted to three factors which were named self-control, social control and external control. Self-control was the most common way of regulation. Stronger reliance on external control of drinking increased the probability of heavy alcohol use. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS These survey results indicate that external control of drinking, for example the restriction of availability of alcohol, could have a greater impact on heavy drinking than on moderate drinking.

Who are private alcohol importers in the Nordic countries

Aims The high price of alcohol in the Nordic countries has been a long-standing policy to curb consumption, which has led consumers to importing alcohol from countries with lower prices. This paper seeks to develop a profile of alcohol importers in four Nordic countries. Methods Cross-sectional data from general population surveys in Denmark (2003-2006), Norway (2004), Sweden (2003-2006) and Finland (2005-2006) were analysed by multiple logistic and linear regression. Independent variables included region, socio-demographics, drinking indicators and alcohol-related problems. Outcome variables were importer status and amount of imported alcohol. Results People living in regions close to countries with lower alcohol prices were more often importers and imported higher amounts than people living in other regions. Higher educated persons were more likely to be importers, but the amounts imported were smaller than those by people with lower education. Persons with higher incomes were also more likely to be importers and they also imported larger amounts than people with lower incomes. In Sweden and Denmark regional differences of importer rates were more pronounced for persons of lower incomes. Age, risky single-occasion drinking, risky drinking and alcohol problems were positively related to the amounts of imported alcohol. Conclusions Private importers in the Nordic countries are an integrated yet heavy drinking segment of society and do not appear to be located on the fringes of society.

Effects of telephone versus face-to-face survey modes on reports of alcohol-related attitudes, harms and alcohol consumption

Abstract Aims: To assess the effect of telephone vs. face-to-face interview modes on reports of alcohol-related attitudes, harms and alcohol consumption. Methods: Two simple random samples of persons aged 15–69 were drawn for the Finnish Drinking Habits Survey with sample sizes of 800 for the telephone interviews and 3750 for the face-to-face interviews. Results: There was an estimated mode effect for the whole population in 4 out of 28 descriptive measures. They did not show a consistent pattern, but some support was found for a lower level of reported alcohol-related harm in telephone interviews than in face-to-face interviews. In the subgroup analysis, our results showed differences in 9 out of 68 comparisons. The most consistent ones of these differences were between the age groups. Conclusion: The results of the alcohol-related measures in the telephone interviews were reasonably well in line with the results of the face-to-face interviews.