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Concurrent Alcohol Use or Heavier Use of Alcohol and Cigarette Smoking Among Women of Childbearing Age with Accessible Health Care

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Abstract

This study was conducted to provide nationally representative findings on the prevalence and distribution of concurrent alcohol use or heavier use of alcohol and cigarette smoking among women of childbearing age with accessible health care. For the years 2003–2005, a total of 20,912 women 18–44 years of age who participated in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) reported that during the study period, there was a place where they would usually go for health care when sick or in need of advice about their health. The prevalence and distribution of concurrent alcohol use or heavier use of alcohol and cigarette smoking reported by such women was calculated. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the “most often visited health care place” among concurrent users who reported having seen or talked to a health care provider during the previous 12 months. Among surveyed women with accessible health care, 12.3% reported concurrent alcohol use and cigarette smoking, and 1.9% reported concurrent heavier use of alcohol and cigarette smoking during the study period. Of women who reported either type of concurrent use, at least 84.4% also indicated having seen or talked to one or more health care providers during the previous 12 months. Such women were more likely than non-concurrent users to indicate that the “most often visited health care place” was a “hospital emergency room or outpatient department or some other place” or a “clinic or health center,” as opposed to an “HMO or doctor’s office.” Concurrent alcohol use or heavier use of alcohol and cigarette smoking among women of childbearing age is an important public health concern in the United States. The findings of this study highlight the importance of screening and behavioral counseling interventions for excessive drinking and cigarette smoking by health care providers in both primary care and emergency department settings.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for data collection and for making the NHIS datasets available through the public domain.

None of the authors reports a financial conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Prevention Research Branch, Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA, 30333, USA

    James Tsai, R. Louise Floyd, Patricia P. Green & Clark H. Denny

  2. Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, 1920 Briarcliff Road, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA

    Claire D. Coles

  3. School of Medicine, Wayne State University, 540 East Canfield, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA

    Robert J. Sokol

  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, MS K66, Atlanta, GA, 30341, USA

    James Tsai

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  1. James Tsai
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Tsai, J., Floyd, R.L., Green, P.P. et al. Concurrent Alcohol Use or Heavier Use of Alcohol and Cigarette Smoking Among Women of Childbearing Age with Accessible Health Care. Prev Sci 11, 197–206 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-009-0158-5

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