Study of Prevalence and Causes of Alcohol Consumption among Females in Sunsari District

Abstract

Background: The alcohol consumption habit is increasing day by day in females. The drinking habit of female may lead to divorce in family life because of not accepting this situation in Nepalese society. Not only has the social impact, this habit directly affects on health of pregnant mother which also affect newborn baby. Due to these reasons alcohol could be one of the great problems if we consider the magnitude and extent of the problem it has created in Nepal. In this scenario this study tried to focus on the alcohol drinking habit on female group in Sunsari district. Methods: This study covered 2397 females in Sunsari district. Cluster and simple random sampling method was used to select the female of age 15 years and above. The pre tested questionnaire in Nepali language was designed to collect the information. The data was entered in computer through dBASE IV program. Finally screened data was analyzed using SPSS 10.0 version package. Appropriate statistical tools were used for analyzing the data. Results: The study reported the prevalence of alcohol consumption among the women aged 15 years and above in Sunsari district was 16.6%. The prevalence of alcohol use was increased with increasing age group from 6.2% in 15-24 age groups to peak at 29.3% in the 55-64 years age group. Women belonging to hill native castes were most likely to consume alcohol than others. The findings of this study reported that separated/divorced women were more likely to use alcohol than others (p<0.0001). Conclusions: The double increase in prevalence of alcohol use may be four times more again if the group is not made aware in time. Keywords: alcohol use; causes; drinking habit; female; prevalence.