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Measurements of Drinking Patterns in the General Population and Possible Applications in Studies of the Role of Alcohol in Cancer¹

Social Research Group, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720

Quantitative information on alcohol consumption patterns derives from four possible sources: indirect measures, observational studies, aggregate consumption statistics, and sample surveys of general populations. The potentials and problems of each method are briefly discussed, with primary attention to the various traditions of survey questioning and data analysis. While medically oriented epidemiologists have often used only an overall drinking volume measure, social scientists have pointed to the importance also of variability in characterizing drinking, particularly in relation to social and casualty as opposed to chronic health problems with drinking. The dimensions of drinking patterns which might be relevant to hypothesized linkages of alcohol and cancer are discussed. It is suggested that measurement will need to extent beyond volume of drinking and may indeed involve studies of new kinds of dimensions in the patterning of drinking.

¹ Presented at the Alcohol and Cancer Workshop, October 23 and 24, 1978, Bethesda, Md. Supported by a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Alcohol Research Center Grant (5 P50 AA03524) to the Social Research Group, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Calif.