Alcohol consumption and binge drinking in young adult childhood cancer survivors

Rebholz, Cornelia E; Kuehni, Claudia E; Strippoli, Marie-Pierre F; Rueegg, Corina S; Michel, Gisela; Hengartner, Heinz; Bergstraesser, Eva; von der Weid, Nicolas X (2012). Alcohol consumption and binge drinking in young adult childhood cancer survivors. Pediatric blood & cancer, 58(2), pp. 256-264. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-Liss 10.1002/pbc.23289

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Background

This study compared frequency of alcohol consumption and binge drinking between young adult childhood cancer survivors and the general population in Switzerland, and assessed its socio-demographic and clinical determinants.

Procedure

Childhood cancer survivors aged <16 years when diagnosed 1976–2003, who had survived >5 years and were currently aged 20–40 years received a postal questionnaire. Reported frequency of alcohol use and of binge drinking were compared to the Swiss Health Survey, a representative general population survey. Determinants of frequent alcohol consumption and binge drinking were assessed in a multivariable logistic regression.

Results

Of 1,697 eligible survivors, 1,447 could be contacted and 1,049 (73%) responded. Survivors reported more often than controls to consume alcohol frequently (OR = 1.7; 95%CI = 1.3–2.1) and to engage in binge drinking (OR = 2.9; 95%CI = 2.3–3.8). Peak frequency of binge drinking in males occurred at age 24–26 years in survivors, compared to age 18–20 in the general population. Socio-demographic factors (male gender, high educational attainment, French and Italian speaking, and migration background from Northern European countries) were most strongly associated with alcohol consumption patterns among both survivors and controls.

Conclusions

The high frequency of alcohol consumption found in this study is a matter of concern. Our data suggest that survivors should be better informed on the health effects of alcohol consumption during routine follow-up, and that such counseling should be included in clinical guidelines. Future research should study motives of alcohol consumption among survivors to allow development of targeted health interventions for this vulnerable group.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM)

UniBE Contributor:

Rebholz, Cornelia, Kühni, Claudia, Strippoli, Marie-Pierre, Rüegg, Corina Silvia, Michel, Gisela

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

1545-5009

Publisher:

Wiley-Liss

Language:

English

Submitter:

Factscience Import

Date Deposited:

04 Oct 2013 14:22

Last Modified:

02 Mar 2023 23:20

Publisher DOI:

10.1002/pbc.23289

PubMed ID:

22162398

Web of Science ID:

000298259000018

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.7380

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/7380 (FactScience: 212602)

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