Assessing alcohol consumption patterns in Jinja and Masindi districts

Abstract BackgroundUganda National Association of Community and Occupational Health (UNACOH) implemented a workplace and community based alcohol control intervention in the districts of Masindi and Jinja in Uganda where alcohol is highly consumed. UNACOH therefore conducted an end-of year evaluation with a main focus on two of the project’ anticipated outcomes. These include:1) Reduced risky alcohol consumption patterns among the communities in the project area especially among vulnerable and high risk groups (elderly, youth, women, commercial motorcyclists and fisher folk) by 2021 and 2) Legal restrictions on density of alcohol outlets, accessibility to minors and availability are in place in Masindi and Jinja district by 2021 .The main objective was therefore to assess alcohol consumption patterns among drinkers, perceptions about community awareness of alcohol control regulations and their perceived effectiveness in the project area (Masindi and Jinja) in the year 2020.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional evaluation conducted among 310 respondents in selected villages within the intervention Sub Counties of the Districts in the project area. These included; These included Karujubu Division,Miirya and Pakanyi Sub Counties in Masindi District, and Bugembe Town Council,Walukuba- Masese Division and Budondo Sub County in Jinja District. The primary outcomes were; reduced risky alcohol consumption patterns among the communities and presence of legal restrictions on density of alcohol outlets, accessibility to minors and availability. Quantitative data were entered and cleaned using Epi-data version 4.6.0.2 analyzed using STATA version 12.0. Descriptive analysis was used to generate information on the alcohol consumption patterns.Results Findings indicated that majority drinkers were male (71.34%) with only 0.93% below the age of 18 years. Spirits were the commonest type of alcohol consumed (40.78%). Risky alcohol consumptions were reported by nearly half (48.71%) of the drinkers. Male drinkers (81.88%) and those in Jinja (58.97%) reported significantly higher alcohol consumption in comparison with female drinkers (18.12%) and those in Masindi (38.31%) respectively. (χ2 =15.74 and p value of 0.000 and χ2=13.24 and p = 0.000).ConclusionVariation in risky alcohol consumption between the project areas could be attributed to differences in implementation of alcohol control regulations. In some project areas, communities were aware of alcohol control regulations and thought these had been beneficial in reducing alcohol related harm. Risky consumption among drinkers remained relatively high. If these negative trends are not reversed they could significantly increase the non-communicable disease burden including mental health.