Social determinants of alcohol use among drivers in Calabar

OBJECTIVE: Hazardous use of alcohol is a public health problem which accounts for 4.0% of global disease burden. Although the prevalence of alcohol use among drivers of commercial vehicles in Nigeria has been documented, not much is known about its social determinants. This study was, therefore, aimed at assessing the social determinants of alcohol use among drivers of commercial vehicles in Calabar. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 360 male commercial drivers. A semistructured questionnaire, which included the World Health Organization Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, was administered at interview. Binary and multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to identify social determinants of any and hazardous alcohol use. RESULTS: Determinants of any alcohol use (binary logistic) were history of use by parents (adjusted odds ratios (AOR)=2.7; 95% CI=1.1–6.3), friends (AOR=3.2; 95% CI=1.3–7.8) and ready availability (AOR=4.1; 95% CI=1.9–8.8) while determinants of hazardous use (multinomial logistic) were history of use by parents (AOR=5.8; 95% CI=2.0–16.9), siblings (AOR=7.0; 95% CI=2.6–16.9), friends (AOR=6.6; 95% CI=1.8–24.4), hostile upbringing environment (AOR=3.8; 95% CI=1.3–11.1), use of other drugs (AOR=55.6, 95% CI=14.5–200), and respondents who had fathers with a maximum of primary or no formal education (AOR=4.6; 95% CI=1.8–11.8). CONCLUSION: Alcohol use was associated with family use, friends’ use, and use of other drugs. Multiple health education interventions are needed to tackle these challenges.