Consumption of alcoholic beverages in Brazil: estimation of prevalence ratios – 2013 and 2019

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of weekly, monthly and abusive alcohol consumption in Brazil in 2013 and 2019, compare the period estimates, and verify the magnitude of the differences. METHODS: Analysis of data on alcohol consumption in the adult population (18 years or older) from the National Health Survey (PNS), 2013 and 2019. The number of interviewees in 2013 was 60,202 and 88,531 in 2019. The samples were characterized according to demographic, socioeconomic, health, and alcohol consumption variables and differences in proportions in the period were compared using Pearson’s c2 test, with Rao-Scott approximation and a 5% significance level. Multivariate Poisson regression models were estimated for the outcome variables of monthly, weekly and abusive consumption of alcoholic beverages, in order to estimate the magnitude of the differences between the 2013 and 2019 PNS estimates, using the prevalence ratio (PR). Models were adjusted per sex and age group and stratified per sex and demographic region. RESULTS: There was a difference in the distribution of the population according to race, occupation, income, age group, marital status, and education. There was an increase in alcohol consumption for all outcome variables, with the exception of weekly consumption in males. The PR of weekly consumption was 1.02 (95%CI 1.014–1.026), and in females the PR was 1.05 (95%CI 1.04–1.06). The highest PRs in the general population and per sex occur for abusive consumption. The increase in weekly consumption per region occurred in the South, Southeast, and Central-West regions. CONCLUSIONS: Males are the main alcohol consumers in Brazil; the PRs for both males and females show that there was an increase in monthly, weekly and abusive consumption in the research period; it is noteworthy that females have increased their consumption pattern with greater intensity than males.