Abstract

NATERA-REY, Guillermina et al. The influence of family history on alcohol intake in males and females. Salud pública Méx [online]. 2001, vol.43, n.1, pp.17-26. ISSN 0036-3634.

OBJETIVE: To assess the risk for alcohol abuse among individuals with a positive family history of alcohol abuse (FH+). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study population was a sample (n=8 890) drawn from a 1988 national survey on addictions in Mexico City's urban population. Data analysis consisted of frequency and association measures, using family history of alcohol abuse as the exposure factor. RESULTS: Prevalence of heavy drinking was 13.7% for males and 0.6% for females. Alcohol dependence syndrome was found in 9.9% of males and 0.6% of females. Men with HF+ were twice more likely to develop dependence syndrome than HF- males. The odds ratio for women was 1.27. CONCLUSIONS: Differential patterns by gender were found for familial transmission of alcohol abuse; parental alcohol intake is a main risk factor for developing alcohol dependence syndrome. The English version of this paper is available at: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html

Keywords : alcohol drinking; alcohol use family history; drinking patterns; sex; Mexico.

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