[The drinking patterns of professionally working women of an industrial enterprise in an urban agglomeration of the north-western part of Switzerland, and its relationship to socioeconomic variables, a pilot study (author's transl)].

In the frame of a pilot-study, a statistically non-representative group of 436 women, employed in an industrial enterprise of north-western Switzerland, were questioned on normal drinking habits with regard to alcoholic beverages. The extent of the consumption and the preferences of different types of alcoholic beverages were correlated with socioeconomic variables. The authors point out that, due to the lower average weight by women and to a possibly different distributive factor and therefore a differing blood-alcohol-concentration, the extent of alcohol consumption has to be scaled differently than by men. Women older than 35 years indicate significantly more often a considerable consumption (p less than 0,02). Significant correlation is given between a higher social status of these women and high consumption, be it in connection with the level of professional training (p less than 0,05), the income (p less than 0,001), or the social class of their fathers. No relationships could be found between consumption and marital status or consumption and place of origin. When high consumption is in evidence, there is a significant correlation with the preference for wine (p less than 0,02), beer (p less than 0,005) or aperitifs (p less than 0,05). The different age-groups show only tendencies to prefer the different types of alcoholic beverages. Although wine is the most popular beverage for all the women examined, it is significantly more often mentioned by women over 35 years, followed by aperitifs, beer and hard liquors. Younger women prefer hard liquors (p less than 0,05), older ones more often choose medicated wine (p less than 0,05). There are also correlations to be found between the preference for an alcoholic beverage and professional status as well as the levels of social status of the fathers and income. Wine is preferred by women with a higher income (p less than 0,01), hard liquors by those from a higher social level of origin (p less than 0,05). These results differ from those out of other inquiries in men and women insofar, as the women in this pilot-study drink less and not as often as men. The correlations with regard to the level of professional training, professional status and income are the same as those described with regard to men. Differences however exist when the beverages preferred by women are examined, since the latter more often prefer wine and less often hard liquors than described when men and women are questioned together.