3-8

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3-8. Alcohol-related risk

3-8-1. Alcohol-related single occasion injury risk in South Australia – by Local Health Network

3-8-2. Alcohol-related single occasion injury risk in South Australia – by age and sex

3-8-3. Alcohol-related single occasion injury risk – by socio-economic status

3-8-4. Alcohol-related lifetime risk in South Australia – by Local Health Network

3-8-5. Alcohol-related lifetime risk in South Australia – by age and sex

3-8-6. Alcohol-related lifetime risk – by socio-economic status

3-8-7. Long-term risk of harm from alcohol – by state and territory

3-8-8. Long-term risk of harm from alcohol – Aboriginal people

Sources

 

3-8-1. Alcohol-related single occasion injury risk in South Australia – by Local Health Network

  • Under current guidelines on alcohol consumption produced by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), for healthy men and women, drinking no more than four standard drinks on a single occasion at least monthly reduces the risk of alcohol-related injury arising from that occasion.
  • In 2018, around one in five (21.2%) South Australians aged 15 years or more reported drinking more than four standard alcoholic drinks on a single occasion at least monthly, putting them at risk of alcohol-related injury1.
  • The rate varies between local health networks (LHNs), from 12.7% in the Riverland Mallee Coorong LHN to 24.4% in the Barossa Hills Fleurieu LHN1.
  • Please note that SA Health LHN geographies differ from Australian Bureau of Statistics SA4 regions reported elsewhere.
  • The rate reported by people that live in Country SA (22.8%) is not statistically significantly higher compared to metropolitan Adelaide (20.6%), taking into account sample margin of error1.
  • A statistically significant downward trend is identified in the 2011-2018 time series for metropolitan Adelaide, but not in the Country SA time series1.
  • Please note that data prior to 2011 is not available. Also, the primary data source for determining alcohol-related risk in South Australia changed from the Health Omnibus Survey (HOS)—a face-to-face survey used up until 2017—to the South Australian Population Health Survey (SAPHS)—a phone survey conducted for the first time in 2018.
  • Changes in trends may therefore reflect changes in survey method rather than real changes to prevalence of risk of alcohol-related injury.

 

At risk of alcohol-related injury (aged 15+ years), 2018
Local Health Network %
Northern Adelaide 17.6%
Central Adelaide 22.6%
Southern Adelaide 20.9%
Metropolitan Adelaide 20.6%
Barossa Hills Fleurieu 24.4%
Eyre and Far North 24.2%
Flinders and Upper North 38.8%
Limestone Coast 23.8%
Riverland Mallee Coorong 12.7%
Yorke & Northern 21.1%
Country SA 22.8%
South Australia 21.2%
Australia n.a.

3 8 SOR LHN 11 10 2019

N.B. SA Health local health network geographies differ from Australian Bureau of Statistics SA4 regions reported elsewhere.

Data source: SAHMRI 2019

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3-8-2. Alcohol-related single occasion injury risk in South Australia – by age and sex

  • Under current guidelines on alcohol consumption produced by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), for healthy men and women, drinking no more than four standard drinks on a single occasion at least monthly reduces the risk of alcohol-related injury arising from that occasion.
  • In 2018, the proportion of males aged 15 years or more who reported drinking on a single occasion at least monthly at levels that puts them at risk of alcohol-related injury (28.7%) was over double the female risk rate (14.2%)1.
  • The primary data source for determining alcohol-related risk in South Australia changed from the Health Omnibus Survey (HOS)—a face-to-face survey used up until 2017—to the South Australian Population Health Survey (SAPHS)—a phone survey conducted for the first time in 2018.
  • HOS obtained responses directly from all respondents aged 15 years and over, whereas parents/guardians answered questions on behalf of 15 year olds in the SAPHS. This raises issues about the accuracy of a parent’s knowledge about substance use by their child. Survey data custodians advise that this change in method appears to have lowered averages reported for youth alcohol use.

 


At risk of alcohol-related injury (aged 15+ years), 2018
Age (years) Males Females
15-24 19.4% 18.9%
25-34 30.8% 18.6%
35-44 39.9% 21.0%
45-54 31.4% 15.4%
55-64 29.2% 14.2%
65-74 25.2% 4.2%
75+ 16.9% 0.7%
All ages 28.7% 14.2%

3 8 SOR age sex 11 10 2019

Data source: SAHMRI 2019

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3-8-3. Alcohol-related single occasion injury risk in South Australia – by socio-economic status

  • Under current guidelines on alcohol consumption produced by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), for healthy men and women, drinking no more than four standard drinks on a single occasion at least monthly reduces the risk of alcohol-related injury arising from that occasion.
  • There is no statistically significant correlation between proportion of people aged 15 years or more who report drinking on a single occasion at least monthly that puts them at risk of alcohol-related injury and the socio-economic status (SES) of the area in which they live1.

 

At risk of alcohol-related injury (aged 15+ years), 2018
Socio-economic status (SES) %
Lowest SES 18.0%
Low SES 22.8%
Middle SES 23.4%
High SES 20.0%
Highest SES 23.6%

3 8 3 SOR SocioEco 11 10 2019

Data source: SAHMRI 2019

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3-8-4. Alcohol-related lifetime risk in South Australia – by Local Health Network

  • Under current guidelines on alcohol consumption produced by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), for healthy men and women, drinking no more than two standard drinks on any day reduces the lifetime risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury.
  • In 2018, roughly one in seven (14.0%) South Australians aged 15 years or more reported drinking more than two standard alcoholic drinks on any day, putting them at lifetime risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury1.
  • The rate varies between local health networks (LHNs), from 10.0% in the Northern Adelaide LHN to 25.2% in the Flinders and Upper North LHN1.
  • Please note that SA Health LHN geographies differ from Australian Bureau of Statistics SA4 regions reported elsewhere.
  • The rate reported by people that live in Country SA (14.8%) is not statistically significantly higher compared to metropolitan Adelaide (13.7%), taking into account sample margin of error1.
  • A statistically significant downward trend was identified in the 2011-2018 time series for metropolitan Adelaide but not Country SA1.
  • Please note that data prior to 2011 is not available. Also, the primary data source for determining alcohol-related risk in South Australia changed from the Health Omnibus Survey (HOS)—a face-to-face survey used up until 2017—to the South Australian Population Health Survey (SAPHS)—a phone survey conducted for the first time in 2018.
  • Changes in trends may therefore reflect changes in survey method rather than real changes to prevalence of lifetime risk of alcohol-related disease or injury.

 

At lifetime risk of alcohol-related disease or injury (aged 15+ years), 2018
Local Health Network %
Northern Adelaide 10.0%
Central Adelaide 14.7%
Southern Adelaide 16.3%
Metropolitan Adelaide 13.7%
Barossa Hills Fleurieu 16.9%
Eyre and Far North 13.7%*
Flinders and Upper North 25.2%
Limestone Coast 12.4%
Riverland Mallee Coorong 10.8%*
Yorke & Northern 13.2%
Country SA 14.8%
South Australia 14.0%
Australia n.a.

3 8 4 LTR LHN 11 10 2019

N.B. SA Health local health network geographies differ from Australian Bureau of Statistics SA4 regions reported elsewhere.

* Relative Standard Error is between 25% and 50%. Please treat the estimate with caution.

Data source: SAHMRI 2019

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3-8-5. Alcohol-related lifetime risk in South Australia – by age and sex

  • Under current guidelines on alcohol consumption produced by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), for healthy men and women, drinking no more than two standard drinks on any day reduces the lifetime risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury.
  • In 2018, one in five (20.8%) males aged 15 years or more reported drinking on a day at levels that puts them at lifetime risk of alcohol-related disease or injury, around three times the corresponding female rate (7.5%)1.
  • The disproportionate levels of lifetime risk of harm from alcohol for males compared to females is recorded across all age cohorts1.
  • The primary data source for determining alcohol-related risk in South Australia changed from the Health Omnibus Survey (HOS)—a face-to-face survey used up until 2017—to the South Australian Population Health Survey (SAPHS)—a phone survey conducted for the first time in 2018.
  • HOS obtained responses directly from all respondents aged 15 years and over, whereas parents/guardians answered questions on behalf of 15 year olds in the SAPHS. This raises issues about the accuracy of a parent’s knowledge about substance use by their child. Survey data custodians advise that this change in method appears to have lowered averages reported for youth alcohol use.

 


At lifetime risk of alcohol-related disease or injury (aged 15+ years), 2018
Age (years) Males Females
15-24 13.1% 4.3%
25-34 19.3% 5.3%
35-44 25.7% 12.5%
45-54 23.7% 8.9%
55-64 21.8% 12.8%
65-74 24.8% 4.3%
75+ 14.5% 0.9%
All ages 20.8% 7.5%

3 8 5 LTR age sex 11 10 2019

Data source: SAHMRI 2019

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3-8-6. Alcohol-related lifetime risk in South Australia – by socio-economic status

  • Under current guidelines on alcohol consumption produced by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), for healthy men and women, drinking no more than two standard drinks on any day reduces the lifetime risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury.
  • There is no statistically significant correlation between proportion of people aged 15 years or more who report drinking at levels that put them at a lifetime risk of harm from alcohol and the socio-economic status (SES) of the area in which they live1.

 

At lifetime risk of alcohol-related disease or injury (aged 15+ years), 2018
Socio-economic status (SES) %
Lowest SES 11.9%
Low SES 12.9%
Middle SES 16.1%
High SES 11.3%
Highest SES 18.7%

3 8 6 LTR SocioEco 11 10 2019

Data source: SAHMRI 2019

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3-8-7. Long-term risk of harm from alcohol – by state and territory

  • Data presented here is from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ 2017-18 National Health Survey for people aged 18 years and over. Therefore it is not directly comparable to the information presented in 3-8-4 to 3-8-6 above which is for persons aged 15 years and over. However, the survey uses the same guidelines on alcohol consumption produced by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). i.e., that for healthy men and women, drinking no more than two standard drinks on any day reduces the lifetime risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury.
  • The national survey found that about one in six (15.9%, age standardised) of South Australians aged 18 years and over had average daily consumption of alcohol that puts them at lifetime risk of alcohol-related disease or injury2.
  • The rate for South Australians is essentially equivalent to the national average (16.0%, age standardised)2.

 

Alcohol consumption exceeds lifetime risk guidelines (aged 18+ years), 2017-18 (age standardised)
State/Territory %
Victoria 14.6%
New South Wales 15.6%
Australian Capital Territory 15.8%
South Australia 15.9%
Tasmania 16.7%
Queensland 17.3%
Western Australia 18.5%
Northern Territory 21.2%
Australia 16.0%

3-8-7

Data source: ABS 2018

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3-8-8. Long-term risk of harm from alcohol – Aboriginal people

  • Under current guidelines on alcohol consumption produced by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), for healthy men and women, drinking no more than two standard drinks on any day reduces the lifetime risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury.
  • Around one in six (16.0%) Aboriginal people in South Australia aged 18 years or more reported exceeding lifetime risk guidelines (2009 NHMRC guidelines) for alcohol consumption, below the national average for Aboriginal people of 20.0%3.
  • Compared to Aboriginal people aged 18 years and over in other states and territories, South Australia is ranked third-lowest for this indicator3.
  • The 2018-19 rate for Aboriginal people (ages 18 years and over) of 16.0% is equivalent to the 2017-18 all-population rate reported above in 3-8-7 for South Australia (ages 18 years and over) of 15.9% (age standardised)2.

 

Alcohol consumption exceeds lifetime risk guidelines - Aboriginal people (aged 18+ years), 2018-19 (crude rates)
State/Territory %
Northern Territory 12.7%
Tasmania 15.5%
South Australia 16.0%
Victoria 18.5%
Western Australia 18.8%
New South Wales 19.8%
Australian Capital Territory 22.4%*
Queensland 24.6%
Australia 20.0%

3-8-8

* Estimate has a high margin of error and should be used with caution

Data source: ABS 2019

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Sources

  1. Based on Health Omnibus Survey (2011-2017 data) and South Australian Population Health Survey (2018 data) customised extracts, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), 2019.
  2. Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS 2018), ‘Table 2.3 Summary health characteristics — States and territories, Proportion of persons’, National Health Survey: First Results, 2017-18, cat. no. 4364.0.55.001, 12 December 2018.
  3. Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS 2019), 'Table 3.3 Selected health characteristics, by State/Territory, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons, 2018–19, Proportion of persons,' National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2018-19, cat. no. 4715.0, 11 December 2019.