Occupational Risk For Heavy Drinking

Research from the UK shows that people aged 40-69 years working in certain occupations may have a higher likelihood of heavy drinking.

Jobs classified as skilled trade occupations (like construction and manufacturing) were most likely to contribute to heavy drinking. In contrast, those categorized as professional occupations (like medicine and teaching) were associated with a low likelihood of heavy drinking.

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‘Consuming alcohol heavily increases the risk of physical and mental harm.’
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Andrew Thompson, corresponding author of the study, explained that consuming alcohol heavily increases the risk of physical and mental harm. Understanding which occupations are associated with heavy drinking can help target resources and interventions.

The research team analyzed data from 2006-2010 on 100,817 UK adults with an average age of 55. Participants were asked to report their weekly or monthly alcohol intake and occupation.

Heavy drinkers were defined as men consuming more than 50 units per week and women drinking ober 35 UK units of alcohol per week. One unit of alcohol is defined as 10ml (8 gm) of pure alcohol in the UK. Typical servings of common alcoholic drinks, like a 175 ml glass of wine or a pint of beer, contain one to three alcohol units.

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Occupations like publicans and managers of licensed premises, plasterers, and industrial cleaning process occupations (including industrial premises cleaners) were associated with the highest rates of heavy drinking in the UK.

Occupations like physicists, clergy, geologists, meteorologists, and medical practitioners were associated with the lowest rates of heavy drinking.

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Findings also showed that for men, the jobs most likely associated with heavy drinking were skilled trade occupations, whereas, for women, managerial and senior official jobs were most likely to be associated with heavy drinking.

For men, occupations like medical practice, clergy and town planning were associated with lowest likelihood of heavy drinking compared to school secretaries, biological scientists, biochemists, and physiotherapists for women.

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Thompson notes that these differences could indicate how work environments, along with gender and other complex factors, can influence relationships with alcohol.

He suggests that workplace-based interventions aimed to address alcohol consumption in heavy drinking prevalent occupations could benefit both individuals and the wider economy by improving employee well-being and indirectly increasing productivity.

The authors caution that a causal relationship cannot be established. Since the data was from 2006-2010, it is unknown whether changes in drinking behaviors have occurred since then.

The authors state that the study provides insight for policymakers and employers. The findings could be used to target public health or work-based interventions aiming to reduce heavy drinking.

Source-Medindia