Identification of Socio-Demographic Characteristics Associated with Alcohol-Related Risk among Japanese Residents in Bangkok, Thailand for Policy Making

Abstract

Background: Alcohol is one of the most major risk factors for health in the world. It is known to be significantly associated with health. However, the level of alcohol consumption and the association between socio-demographic characteristics and alcohol-related risk among Japanese residents in Bangkok has not been researched yet. This study was done to advertise healthier drinking behavior among them.

Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted in 300 participants who were Japanese residents in Bangkok, Thailand by purposive sampling. Data was collected by self-report questionnaire. T-test and one way ANOVA were employed at 95% of CI. Post hoc test was done when significant association was found by one way ANOVA.

Results: The mean score of AUDIT is 7.40 among Japanese residents in Bangkok, which is categorized as low risk drinkers. There are significant associations between gender/age/occupation and alcohol-related risk, especially males age group of 40-59 years. Management level employees tend to have higher risk compared to other socio-demographic characteristics.

Conclusion: The result of this research was consistent with former studies that males tend to have higher risk than females at the age of 40-59 years old. Also males tend to have higher risk than other age groups. However, it is inconsistent with a previous study that management level employees have higher risk than other occupations. This result should be utilized to promote alcohol screening test to Japanese residents in Bangkok, which could find their alcohol-related risk and change their drinking behaviors.