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Validating Alcohol Use Measures Among Male Drinkers in Goa: Implications for Research on Alcohol, Sexual Risk, and HIV in India

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Abstract

Assessment of heavy drinking patterns is vital for HIV/AIDs studies in India and developing countries. A population survey in northern Goa included urban and rural male drinkers (n = 743) who completed a new Fractional Graduated Frequencies (F-GF) alcohol patterns measure assessing seven beverage types and drink sizes for the largest daily amount, then drinking frequencies at fractional amounts. The new measure was compared to a simpler quantity-frequency (QF) summary and, in a validity subsample of hazardous drinkers (n = 56), 28-day diaries of drinking events. Approximately 56% of total volume came from peak drinking (averaging 60 g ethanol/day). For AUDIT-based Hazardous Drinkers, QF and F-GF volumes (drinks/day) were not significantly different from diary volume (correlations 0.65 and 0.57, respectively). F-GF well captured the profile of daily amounts in drinking event data. In addition, the F-GF showed evidence of better predicting any sexual risk behavior or partner violence perpetration than the QF measure. Summary drinking pattern measures, especially the new F-GF, are more cost efficient than intensive event records, and appear valid when carefully assessing quantities with local beverage types and drink ethanol content.

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Acknowledgements

Results presented here come from a collaborative project between the Alcohol Research Group, Public Health Institute, Emeryville, California, USA and Sangath Center, Alto Porvorim, Goa, India, funded by grant R21 AA014773 and by Center Grant P30 AA005595 from the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Views expressed are those of the authors not the supporting institutions. A draft of this paper was presented at the First International Conference on HIV and Alcohol in India, Mumbai, August 3–4, 2009. We thank anonymous reviewers for valuable comments which helped improve the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alcohol Research Group, Public Health Institute, 6475 Christie Ave., Suite 400, Emeryville, CA, 94608, USA

    Thomas K. Greenfield, Madhabika B. Nayak, Jason Bond & Karen Trocki

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Thomas K. Greenfield

  3. Sangath Center, Alto Porvorim, Goa, India

    Vikram Patel & Aravind Pillai

  4. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

    Vikram Patel

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  1. Thomas K. Greenfield
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  2. Madhabika B. Nayak
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Correspondence to Thomas K. Greenfield.

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Greenfield, T.K., Nayak, M.B., Bond, J. et al. Validating Alcohol Use Measures Among Male Drinkers in Goa: Implications for Research on Alcohol, Sexual Risk, and HIV in India. AIDS Behav 14 (Suppl 1), 84–93 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-010-9734-8

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