Rise in heavy drinking by women emerges as public health threat
Heavy drinking and binge drinking by women are up dramatically in many parts of the country, and some counties in the Pittsburgh area have seen especially big jumps, according to a study that raises the specter of an emerging public health threat.
The study, released Thursday by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, said women’s drinking behaviors have become more troublesome even as the nation’s overall drinking rate remained fairly flat.
“I’ve seen that, particularly in
college-age women — college students — and even young professionals,” said Joe Cvitkovic, a psychologist and the director of behavioral health care at Jefferson Hospital-Allegheny Health Network.
Some college women, he said, are consuming alcohol with the “reckless abandon” long attributed to their male counterparts. Some do it out of boredom, he said, and others feel a need to keep up with peers.
Female professionals may face increased exposure to alcohol at social events or while traveling, he added, noting that even a small number of high-alcohol craft beers or specialty mixed drinks can take a heavy toll on travelers deprived of food or sleep. “One is good, two is better, and the next thing you know, they’re passed out,” he said.
When therapists ask about alcohol consumption, he said, the young patients often say they don’t drink any more than their friends do. “And that’s probably true,” Mr. Cvitkovic said.
Although men always have made up the lion’s share of Greenbriar Treatment Center clients, “we are seeing more women with heavy drinking and more addicted to opiates,” spokeswoman Vanessa Sebetich said. “Some of that is self-medication,” she said, noting many of the center’s clients also have depression and anxiety disorders.
Nor did the study findings surprise Beth E. Neveux, drug and alcohol program supervisor for Butler County. “We’re seeing a steady increase in the number of females being charged with DUIs,” she said, attributing some alcohol abuse by women to mental health issues, abuse and other trauma.
Researchers called the study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, the first to outline drinking trends on a county-by-county basis around the country. The study defined heavy drinking as a woman’s consumption of more than one alcoholic drink per day, on average, over a 30-day period. It defined binge drinking as a woman’s consumption of at least four alcoholic drinks on at least one occasion in a 30-day period. The data, drawn from an ongoing federal telephone survey of millions of Americans, showed that: • The incidence of heavy drinking by women in Allegheny County increased 37.6 percent from 2005 to 2012. In comparison, heavy drinking by women nationwide and statewide increased 28.2 percent and 25.7 percent, respectively, during the period. • The incidence of binge drinking by women in Allegheny County increased 10.3 percent from 2002 to 2012 and 11.6 percent from 2005 to 2012. Nationwide, binge drinking by women increased 14.8 percent from 2002 to 2012 and 17.5 percent from 2005 to 2012. Statewide, binge drinking by women increased 4.5 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively, during those periods. • Some suburban and outlying counties also saw bigger-than-average increases in troublesome drinking behaviors. For example, the incidence of heavy drinking by women increased 28.6 percent in Beaver County and 33 percent in Butler County from 2005 to 2012, researchers said. • The proportion of female drinkers classified as heavy drinkers or binge drinkers also increased in some counties. For example, the proportion of heavy drinkers increased 35.3 percent in Allegheny County from 2005 to 2012, compared with increases of 27 percent nationally and 26.9 percent statewide. • Greene County saw the biggest overall jump in drinking, up 6.9 percent since 2005. The study said the data are important because heavy drinking and binge drinking create health concerns ranging from accidents to prevalence of cancers and liver disease. In 2012, the percentage of people who drink at all hovered at 56 percent nationally and 59.2 percent for Pennsylvania. That year, 8.2 percent of Americans were classified as heavy drinkers and 18.3 percent were classified as binge drinkers. Researchers said they “found that increases in heavy and binge drinking prevalence in recent years have tended to be larger for women than for men, although women have not yet caught up to men in terms of current prevalence. These findings call for interventions intended specifically to address this increase among women.” Mr. Cvitkovic said some heavy drinkers and binge drinkers outgrow their habits.