[The Gothenburg study of women and alcohol: low occurrence of abuse--increase appears to have abated].

Prevalence of alcohol dependence and abuse (ADA) was determined in a cohort of women selected by stratified random sampling from the general population in Gothenburg. A questionnaire was administered to 3,130 women and 399 were interviewed. Questions were asked about social background, living conditions, family and working life. Volume and frequency of alcohol intake were recorded, and diagnoses were made according to DSM-III. We found that the one-year prevalence of ADA was 1.5 percent and the life time prevalence 3.3 percent. In a follow-up five years after base-line, the prevalence of ADA was unchanged, while indicators of high alcohol consumption and high episodic drinking showed reduced levels of problem drinking.