Lemmens P H
University of Limburg, Department of Medical Sociology, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Addiction. 1994 May;89(5):593-601. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1994.tb03336.x.
A stubborn problem in alcohol epidemiology is that of standardization of unit of measurement. Consistent use of the 'standard drink' in research reports is hampered by difficulties in the assessment of the alcohol content of, particularly, self-reported drinks. Alcohol content of a drink depends on strength of the beverage and volume of the glass or container from which the beverage is taken. Both factors vary considerably between times, regions and individuals. Interview protocols and questionnaires rarely take into account the fact that people consume alcoholic beverages from a large variety of glasses and containers. In the present study the common presumption is tested of equality of alcohol content of standard and self-reported drinks. The test consisted of measuring the amount of wine, fortified wine and spirits people usually pour in the glass typical for the beverage type. The sample was drawn from the general Dutch population in 1985. The results show that on average self-reported drinks taken at home contained more than the presumed standard (10 g per drink). The deviation was highest for spirits (+26%), followed by fortified wines (+14%) and least for wine (+4%). There seemed to be a positive relationship between deviation from 'standard' and strength of the alcoholic beverage. This result is in line with data on the coverage of sales data: aggregate, survey-based spirits consumption shows the lowest coverage of sales. The effect of the difference between actual and presumed content of drinks on estimates of consumption is an overall increase of 7.5%, higher for women (+12%) than for men (+6%). Results are discussed with respect to the use of the concept of 'standard unit' in research protocols and health education campaigns.
酒精流行病学中一个棘手的问题是计量单位的标准化。在研究报告中持续使用“标准饮品”受到阻碍，尤其是在评估自报饮品的酒精含量时存在困难。饮品的酒精含量取决于饮料的酒精度以及饮用饮料的杯子或容器的容量。这两个因素在不同时间、地区和个人之间差异很大。访谈方案和问卷很少考虑到人们会用各种各样的杯子和容器饮用酒精饮料这一事实。在本研究中，对标准饮品和自报饮品酒精含量相等这一常见假设进行了检验。测试包括测量人们通常倒入各类饮品典型杯子中的葡萄酒、加强葡萄酒和烈酒的量。样本取自1985年荷兰的普通人群。结果显示，平均而言，在家中自报的饮品所含酒精超过假定标准（每杯10克）。烈酒的偏差最大（+26%），其次是加强葡萄酒（+14%），葡萄酒最小（+4%）。偏离“标准”的程度与酒精饮料的酒精度之间似乎存在正相关关系。这一结果与销售数据的覆盖情况数据一致：总体而言，基于调查的烈酒消费量显示出最低的销售覆盖率。饮品实际含量与假定含量之间的差异对消费量估计的影响是总体增加7.5%，女性（+12%）高于男性（+6%）。文中还就“标准单位”概念在研究方案和健康教育活动中的使用进行了讨论。
