Prevalence of alcohol use, and factors associated with hazardous drinking among medical doctors in Dar es salaam, Tanzania.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Despite its few perceived benefits, alcohol consumption is associated with numerous adverse outcomes such as disease, injuries, social and economic impacts. In 2016, harmful alcohol consumption was reported to contribute to 5.3% of deaths and 5.1% of disease adjusted life years (DALYs) in that particular year. Doctors have been identified as one of the key agents in prevention of alcohol related harm through role modeling, educating, and treating alcohol-related harms. However, their attitude and alcohol consumption behaviors affect such roles Aim: To determine the prevalence of alcohol use, and factors associated with hazardous drinking among medical doctors in the Dar-es-salaam region. Methodology: A cross-sectional analytical study that involved doctors from government hospitals in Dar-es-salaam was done from 20th October 2023 to 30th December 2023. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data about socio-demographic and work-related characteristics, psychological well-being status and alcohol consumption patterns among the selected doctors. By using SPSS version 23 for analysis, chi-square test and binary logistic regression model were used to assess the statistical significance of the results and p-value of 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The prevalence of current drinkers is 55.8% while that of hazardous and moderate drinkers are 37.2% and 18.6% respectively. Having adjusted for confounders, the level of experience (p = 0.009), work department (p = 0.04), and psychological well-being (p <0.001) retained a statistically significant association with hazardous alcohol use. Current drinkers with poor psychological well-being had 10.11 times higher odds of engaging in hazardous drinking (95% CI = 2.77 – 37) compared to those with good psychological well-being. Conclusion: Alcohol use among medical doctors appears to be a common behavior in Dar es Salaam. Medical doctors in Dar es Salaam have higher prevalence of alcohol use and hazardous drinking than the general population. Recommendation: Hospitals should design and implement health programs to promote, protect, and restore psychological wellbeing for those in need to prevent them hazardous drinking and its subsequent effects.