Table 2

Prevalence of heavy drinkers by patient characteristic
Patient variable
 Number (n)
 Unadjusted descriptive
 Age-sex standardised




Heavy drinkers (6+ at least weekly), variable specific rate (N = 5,753)
 Heavy drinkers (6+ at least weekly), variable specific rate (N = 5,756)




Per cent of n
 p-value*
 Per cent of n
 p-value*
Sex




     Males
 4,238
 13.8
 p < 0.01

     Female
 1,515
 3.1
 ---

Age




     18–24 years
 878
 12.7
 p < 0.01

     25–44 years
 2,250
 9.5
 ---

     45–64 years
 1,941
 7.8
 ---

     65–74 years
 476
 4.3
 ---

     75+ years
 208
 1.7
 ---

Holds Health Care card




     Yes
 1,955
 5.8
 p < 0.01
 7.7
 p = 0.07
     No
 3,212
 8.4
 ---
 7.0
 ---
Holds Veterans' Affairs card




     Yes
 164
 5.2
 p < 0.01
 8.7
 p = 0.18
     No
 4,900
 7.3
 ---
 7.2
 ---
Non-English speaking background(a)




     Yes
 174
 2.8
 p < 0.01
 3.3
 p < 0.01
     No
 5,137
 7.6
 ---
 7.6
 ---
Indigenous




     Yes
 173
 18.5
 p < 0.01
 18.9
 p < 0.01
     No
 5,580
 7.2
 ---
 7.2
 ---
New to practice




     Yes
 733
 10.5
 p < 0.01
 8.5
 p = 0.02
     No
 4,901
 7.0
 ---
 7.1
 ---
Daily smoker




     Yes
 2,406
 17.5
 ---
 16.1
 ---
     No
 3314
 5.1*
 ---
 5.3*
 ---

* P value for design based F statistic, which adjusts for the cluster sample design. Significant at α = 0.01.

(a) Defined as speaks another language as their first language at home

Note: CI – confidence interval; New to practice – not previously seen by a medical practitioner in this practice.

Proude et al. BMC Family Practice 2006 7:17   doi:10.1186/1471-2296-7-17