Brief report
Reliability of self-reported alcohol consumption before and after December

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the reliability of a self-reported 12 month alcohol measure obtained 1 month before and after December. As part of a larger study involving multiple telephone contacts, this sample consisted of 112 volunteers who drank alcohol at least monthly. During telephone interviews, respondents were asked about their drinking in the last 12 months in November, 1989, and again in January, 1990. The results indicate that the sample reported significantly lower alcohol use during the past year after December. These lower estimates occurred in both the frequency and the average quantity per occasion measures. There were significant reductions in reports of alcohol consumption in the last 12 months after December for the group which was contacted more often (⩾ 7 times during December). The group contacted fewer times (⩽ 2 times during December) also reported lower, but not significant, amounts of alcohol consumed after December. These findings indicate that the prevailing idea that reports of last year's typical drinking obtained in January will be overstated because of the holiday season may be unfounded.

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There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

This project was supported by a Biomedical Research Support Grant (#89-22) from the University of California at Berkeley. Additional support was provided by the Epidemiology Branch of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

The author wishes to thank Alice Hines, Sherrill Clark, Maribeth Hoath, Marge Hunt, Christine Saulnier, Claudia Waters and Sandy Wexler for their support and assistance on this project.

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