Vol. 3 No. 11A (2022): The Alcohol Consumption and Its Associated Factors among Cambodian Women Aged 15-64 Year Old
Student's Abstract
Chandarith Yos1, Sodara Chan1, Seakchhay Chap1
1- School of Public Health, National Institute of Public Health, Cambodia
*Corresponding author: Chandarith Yos, Email: darithpharma@gmail.com
Keywords: Alcohol consumption, Women aged 15-64, Associated factors, Drug use, Tobacco use
Introduction
Alcohol consumption in Cambodia has increased in recent decades. Alcohol consumption has many detrimental effects on Cambodian society, particularly for women. To prevent women from initiating drinking and keeping the women drinking rate under control, factors influencing alcohol use among women need to be explored early and in a timely manner. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of alcohol consumption and identify its associated factors among women aged 15-64 in Cambodia.
Methods
Existing data from the Violence Against Women (VAW) 2015 study were used. The study was a joint collaboration among different players, including the Ministry of Planning, WHO, Ministry of Women’s Affairs and UN Women. Data analysis was performed by using STATA software version 14.0. Three-stage stratified cluster sampling was used to collect samples. Descriptive analysis was conducted to describe the socio-demographics of the participants. Bivariate analysis with the chi-square test was performed to identify factors associated with alcohol consumption, defined as drinking alcohol every day, nearly every day and once or twice a week for all types of liquor-containing alcohol, among women aged 15-64 in Cambodia.
Results
Among 3582 eligible women, we found that 6.59% of women consumed alcohol. Overall, the following factors were significantly associated with alcohol consumption: age group 15-35 (4.70%), 36-55 (8.94%), and 56-64 (6.69%) with P<0.05, married (7.29%) vs. non-married (4.24%), with P<0.05, wealth index: poor (7.82%), middle (6.24%), rich (3.23%), P<0.05, rural (7.09%) vs. urban (5.13%), P<0.05, drug use (36.59%) vs. non-drug use (6.24%), P<0.001, tobacco use (19.51%) vs. non-tobacco use (5.13%) with P<0.001, and finally, intimate partner violence (13.04%) vs. non-IPV (6.41%) with P<0.001. There were no significant association between alcohol consumption and occupation, religion or tentative suicide of participants.
Conclusion
Our findings revealed that the prevalence of alcohol consumption among women in Cambodia was still relatively low. Factors associated with alcohol consumption included older age group> 35 years old, marital status, poor wealth quintile, drug use, tobacco use and IPV. These findings are critically important for public health concerns in the country. Therefore, to further reduce the prevalence of alcohol consumption among women, it is necessary to address its associated factors related to socio-behavioral factors, including wealth status, tobacco use, drug use, and intimate partner violence.