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Indicator name:
Alcohol, abstainers (15+ years), lifetime
Short name:
Lifetime abstainers
Topic:
Risk factors
Rationale:
Aggregate measures such as APC only give population averages. In order to better understand alcohol consumption, we need to combine this information with other information on who drinks and in what pattern. The number of lifetime abstainers provides such information by separating out the drinking from the non-drinking population.
Definition:
Lifetime abstainers is defined as the proportion of adults (15+ years) in a given population who have not consumed any alcohol during their lifetime, assessed at a given point in time. Numerator: The number of lifetime abstainers (15+ years). Denominator: The total number of participants (15+ years) responding to the corresponding question in a given survey. Weighted by survey design.
Disaggregation:
Sex, Age
Method of measurement
A representative sample of the adult population (15+ years) of the country is asked to answer questions in a survey. The first priority in the decision tree is given to international surveys (in this order of preference: WHS, STEPS, GENACIS, and ECAS); second is national surveys.
Method of estimation:
Statistical analyses based on surveys, weighted to be representative for the population.
Method of estimation of global and regional aggregates:
Average of countries with representative data weighted by the respective populations.
Preferred data sources:
Population-based surveys
Expected frequency of data dissemination:
Every 3-5 years
Expected frequency of data collection:
Every 3-5 years
Comments:
Preferred data sources: Population-based surveys representative for a country; if possible as part of internationally comparative surveys.
Contact person email:
msb@who.int
Name:
NMH/MSD/MSB
IMRID:
460
Links:
Global Information System on Alcohol and Health (GISAH)
Global Infobase
Indicator Metadata Registry List
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