The 2009 NHMRC Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol: Does anyone know about them?

1. The 2009 NHMRC Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol: Does anyone know about them? Michael Livingston Presentation at FARE Guidelines event, March 6 2012

2. Background • In 2009, new official guidelines on low-risk drinking were released • Followed a draft release in 2007 and substantial consultation and public discussion • Took a different approach to the previous guidelines and thus produced slightly different results

3. Outline • Two separate research questions: • How accurately do Australians estimate low-risk drinking levels? • How have estimates of low-risk drinking levels changed following the publication of new Australian drinking guidelines?

4. Summary of changes

5. Summary of changes

6. Summary of changes

7. Perceptions of ‘low-risk’ drinking • Data on low-risk drinking collected regularly in the National Drug Strategy Household Survey • Change to question format between 2004 and 2007 makes comparisons over time problematic • Respondents asked to estimate low-risk levels for both short-term and long-term drinking and for males and females

8. Perceptions of ‘low-risk’ drinking • How many standard drinks do you think an adult male/female could drink every day for many years without adversely affecting his/her health? • Again, thinking in terms of standard drinks, how many standard drinks do you think an adult male/female could drink in a six-hour period before he puts his/her health at risk? • Focusing here on respondents answering questions for their own gender

9. Results • Around 40% of men and 45% of women could not even provide an estimate • These respondents are excluded from the results presented after this slide • Of those who did, most respondents’ estimates did not match the 2009 guidelines • Overall, 2.6% of men and 2.5% of women estimates of both short- and long-term low-risk drinking matched up with the 2009 guidelines

10. Estimates of long-term low-risk levels

11. Estimates of long-term low-risk levels

12. Estimates of long-term low-risk levels

13. Estimates of short-term low-risk levels

14. Estimates of short-term low-risk levels

15. Estimates of short-term low-risk levels

16. Summarising 2010 perceptions • A large proportion people could not even estimate low-risk drinking levels • In terms of long-term drinking levels, few respondents estimated above the current guidelines, especially for women • Short-term drinking estimates were of much more concern, with two-thirds of mean and one-third of women estimating levels above the guidelines • Particularly concerning results for young males and people who drink heavily

17. Changes between 2007 and 2010 • Males, long-term drinking levels

18. Changes between 2007 and 2010 • Males, long-term drinking levels

19. Changes between 2007 and 2010 • Males, long-term drinking levels

20. Changes between 2007 and 2010 • Males, short-term drinking levels

21. Changes between 2007 and 2010 • Females, long-term drinking levels

22. Changes between 2007 and 2010 • Females, short-term drinking levels

23. Summarising changes between 2007 and 2010 • General lowering of levels perceived as ‘low-risk’ • Particularly sharp shift for male long-term drinking towards the new levels in the 2009 guidelines • Long-term low-risk drinking perceptions did not change much for women • Short-term drinking estimates were smaller for both men and women, and potentially affected by the publicity around the draft guidelines

24. Conclusions • Australians do not have good knowledge of the 2009 NHRMC drinking guidelines • Despite this, general perceptions of what constitutes low-risk drinking in the long-term are quite reasonable • Perceptions of short-term low-risk drinking are more problematic, particularly amongst high-risk groups • Some small evidence that the new guidelines produced small shifts in perceptions, suggesting that more comprehensive dissemination may be beneficial