Methods of estimating individual levels of alcohol consumption in the general population

Knowledge of individual levels of alcohol consumption in the general population is derived from surveys in which a sample of subjects from the population is asked what they drink. The estimates derived from the data collected from these general population surveys invariably fall short of estimates of national consumption based on excise duty. This is termed the problem of ‘coverage’ and generally survey estimates represent only about 4060% of annual sales (Pernanen, 1974). In other words self-reported alcohol consumption in general population surveys appears to dramatically underestimate consumption. There are two factors which are usually cited to account for the underestimation: (I) under-reporting and (ii) low response rates in general population drinking surveys.