Health Utility of Drinkers’ Family Members: A Secondary Analysis of a US Population Data Set
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Jeremy W. Bray, Professor and Department Head (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Abstract: Background. Problematic alcohol use is known to harm individuals surrounding the drinker. Thisstudy described the health utility of people who reported having a family member(s) whom theyperceived as a “problem drinker.”Methods. We conducted a secondary analysis of the US National Epidemiologic Survey ofAlcohol and Related Conditions Wave 3 (NESARC-III, 2012–13) data to estimate the independentassociations of a family member’s problem drinking on the respondent’s health utility, also knownas health-related quality of life, assessed via the SF-6D. Participants included 29,159noninstitutionalized adults, of whom 21,808 reported perceiving a family member or members ashaving a drinking problem at any point in that person’s life. Respondent drinking was assessed viaself-report and diagnostic interview. We used population-weighted multivariate regression toestimate disutility.Results. After adjusting for the respondent’s own alcohol consumption, alcohol use disorder(AUD), family structure, and sociodemographic characteristics, the mean decrement in SF-6Dscore associated with perceiving a family member as a problem drinker ranged from 0.033 (P <0.001) for a spouse/partner to 0.023 (P < 0.001) for a grandparent, sibling, aunt, or uncle. The meandecrement in SF-6D score from having AUD oneself was 0.039 (P < 0.001).Conclusions. Perceived problem drinking within one’s family is associated with statisticallysignificant losses in health utility, the magnitude of which is dependent on relationship type. Theadverse consequences associated with problem drinking in the family may rival having AUDoneself.Implications. Family-oriented approaches to AUD interventions may confer outsize benefits,especially if focused on the spouse or partner. Economic evaluation of alcohol misuse could bemade more accurate through the inclusion of family spillover effects.
Health Utility of Drinkers’ Family Members: A Secondary Analysis of a US Population Data Set
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Created on 9/11/2023
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Additional Information
- Publication
- MDM Policy & Practice, 7(2)
- Language: English
- Date: 2022
- Keywords
- alcohol use disorder, economic evaluation, family spillover, health utility, problem
drinking, second harms