Research: Current Statistics

1. Smoking

Health Behavour of School Children Surveys: 1998 & 2002

Health Promotion Strategy Target
To increase the percentage of the population who remain non-smokers with a particular emphasis on narrowing the gap across social classes and to protect non-smokers from passive smoke.

(See Figure 10 below)

Overall 27% (31% in 1998) of respondents reported being regular or occasional cigarette smokers; 28% (32% in 1998) men and 26% (31% in 1998) women. In addition, a further 100 people were regular or occasional cigar/pipe smokers

As in 1998, there continue to be marked age related patterns to smoking, with highest rates among both younger males and females. However there have been consistent falls in reported rates in every demographic category. There has also been a small narrowing in the gradient, particularly among females.

Figure 10: Age & Gender Distribution of Smokers

As seen in Figure 12 below smokers tended to rate their health slightly less well than non smokers generally in both the 1998 and 2002 surveys, though the trend to improved self rated health overall is maintained.

Figure 12: Perceived General Health

Overall, 41% of the children report that they have ever smoked a cigarette (40% boys and 42% girls). In 2002 19% report that they are current smokers compared with 21% in 1998 (17% boys in 2002 and 21% in 1998 and 20% girls in 2002 compared with 21% in 1998). The following figures present this information by gender, age and social class.

2. Alcohol

Health Behavour of School Children Surveys: 1998 & 2002

• The Drinking Habits of Irish adults
  
• The Drinking Habits of Irish children and teens
  
• Statistics of alcohol-related harm

The Drinking Habits of Irish adults

• Against the backdrop of a fast-growing economy, Ireland has experienced the highest growth in alcohol consumption among EU countries. Alcohol consumption per capita increased 49% over the period 1989 - 2001. Consumption decreased in virtually every other EU country, with only four countries demonstrating even a modest rise.
• Beer (ie, lager, ale, stout) continues to be the main drink of choice, while sales of cider and wine have seen growth in recent years. Sales of spirits recovered from a decline in the early 1990's due in part to the introduction of new designer drinks ('alcopops', etc).
  

National Health & Lifestyle Surveys (SLAN, 2002)

• 83% of men and 74% of women surveyed had consumed alcohol in the last month;
• There are still relatively high numbers of non-drinkers among over-55's, with less than 7% of the remainder of the adult population abstaining;
• On average, women consumed alcohol 2.6 times a week, and men 2.8 times;
• Binge drinking (6 drinks per session) was up on the 1998 survey: 41.4% of men (34.7% in 1998) and 16.2% of women (11.6% in 1998);
• At 7.2%, women were more likely than men (3.9%) to have had arguments with family and friends about drinking;
• 21% of men and 8.6% of women admitted to having driven after at least 2 drinks.
  
  Source: The National Health & Lifestyle Surveys, 2003, a joint project of the Department of Health & Children and the Centre for Health Promotion Studies, National University of Ireland, Galway.
  Download at www.healthpromotion.ie/research #

The Drinking habits of Irish children and teens

The HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children) survey of 2002 found that children's drinking had actually decreased since the 1998 survey. The figures were for those who had ever had a drink, were currently drinking (ie, had a drink in the last month), and those who had ever been "really drunk":

% of children who had ever had an alcoholic drink:

A further survey of Irish school-going teenagers (15 - 16 year olds) the ESPAD survey reported the following:

In addition, since the 1995 ESPAD survey, girls’consumption of alcohol had risen to meet that of boys.

Statistics of alcohol-related harm

• Per capita alcohol consumption up 49% over period 1989 - 2001 (11.4 litres of pure alcohol per capita in 2001).

The level of alcohol-related harm is known to increase with the rate of alcohol consumption.

• Alcohol intake is a factor in 40% of all fatal road accidents in Ireland and in 30% of all road accidents.
• 35% of sexually active teenagers say alcohol is a factor in their engaging in sex.
• Sexually transmitted infections have increased by 165% in the last decade, with 8,900 cases reported in 2000 alone.
• 48% of all criminal offences are alcohol-related. This includes 88% of public order offences, 48% of offences against the person and 54% of all criminal damage offences. These refer only to offences committed by adults.
  • Over the 5-year period 1996 - 2001, public order offences alone had increased from 16,384 to 42,754.
• 370% increase in intoxication in public places by underage drinkers since 1996.
• One in four (25%) of those attending hospital A & E (Casualty) departments have an alcohol-related injury/illness. One in eight (13%) present in a state of clinical intoxication.
• 26% of male and 11% of female first admissions to psychiatric services are for alcohol-related conditions (1999 figures).
• 30% of all male patients and 8% of female patients in an Irish general hospital were found to have an underlying and unidentified alcohol abuse or dependency problem.
• 34% of those seeking legal advice due to marital breakdown cite alcohol as the main cause of their marital problems.
• The economic cost of alcohol-related problems in Ireland was roughly 2.37 billion euro in 1999 (1.7% of GDP). This figure encompassed healthcare costs, accidents, crime, absenteeism, transfer payments and lost taxes. It represents 60% of the total revenue from alcohol to the Exchequer for that year.

Health Promotion Strategy Target

• To promote moderation in alcohol consumption for those who wish to drink and to reduce the level of alcohol-related problems.
• To promote moderation in alcohol consumption with the message that less is better
• To delay the onset of alcohol consumption among children and adolescents, especially those in the under 15 year age group
• To contribute to a decrease in the number of young people and adults who drink to excess on any one occasion
  

Overall 78% (76% in 1998) of the respondents had consumed alcohol in the previous month, 83% (82% in 1998) men and 74% (70% in 1998) women.

Figure 15: Percentage of non-drinkers by gender, age and educational status

There is a slight inverse gradient according to educational status with those in the lowest educational category tending to report non-drinking more frequently. There is a clear age effect with the over 55s being more likely to report non-drinking, though prevalence rates are downwards since 1998.

Among females the inverse educational gradient is much more marked, particularly among the over 55s and again prevalence of non drinking is higher among older women of all levels of educational attainment.

Continual, excessive alcohol use can contribute to a variety of physical and mental health problems. Respondents were asked if they had experienced any of a number of problems as a result of their own or someone else’s drinking in the last 12 months. It should be noted here that the question in 2002 had a number of extra response options in comparison to 1998. The top three problems resulting from one’s own drinking were as follows - 35% of respondents reported being drunk, 14% felt they should cut down, and 14% felt the effects of alcohol while at work. Positive responses to these three questions increased with age. The top three problems resulting from someone else’s drinking were as follows – 6% have had arguments with family and friends about drinking, 6% (9% in 1998) report being verbally abused, and 3% (7% in 1998) report having family / marital difficulties.

Overall, 40% (31% in 1998) of children report that they have never had an alcoholic drink. These rates have risen in all categories, most particularly in the youngest group of 10-11 year olds. There is little evidence of a class effect in these reported rates.

3. Drugs

Health Behavour of School Children Surveys: 1998 & 2002

Drugs in Ireland: Drugnet Ireland - Issue 13, Spring 2005

Third ESPAD survey examines trends in alcohol and drug use among school-going children (Sinclair H)

On 14 December 2004 the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Mr Sean Power, announced the publication of the third European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD).1 The third ESPAD survey was conducted in 35 European countries during 2003 and collected information on young people’s alcohol and illicit drug use. 1 The target population was school-going children born in 1987. Thus, those surveyed were aged either 15 or 16 years at the time of the survey. As in the earlier ESPAD surveys, the 2003 survey was conducted with a standardised methodology and a common questionnaire to provide comparable European data.

The publication of the results for the 2003 Irish ESPAD survey allows comparisons with the previous Irish ESPAD surveys conducted in 1999 and 1995. Trends in some of the main indicators of alcohol and drug use over the last eight years are reported below.

In terms of alcohol consumption in Ireland, there was a drop in reported regular use of alcohol (consumed alcohol 20 times or more during last 12 months) by students between 1999 (39%) and 2003 (35%) but proportions were still higher than in 1995 (32%), (Table 1). Confidence intervals are not provided for these estimates and therefore it is not possible to tell if changes are statistically significant or not. The ESPAD report acknowledges this limitation, stating that in many countries the necessary software and resources to calculate confidence intervals were not available.

In the 2003 Irish survey more girls (39%) than boys (31%) reported regular use of alcohol. In fact, Ireland and Greenland are the only two of the 35 ESPAD participating countries in 2003 where girls ranked higher than boys in terms of regular alcohol use. Girls in Ireland ranked first in the prevalence of regular alcohol use, followed by girls in Denmark (36%).

The ESPAD report provides two measures of heavy alcohol use: drunk ten times or more during the last 12 months and ‘binge drinking’ three times or more during the last 30 days, (Table 1). Binge drinking is defined in the report as ‘having five or more drinks in a row’. There was little change in both measures in Ireland between 1999 and 2003 but the overall trend from 1995 continues to be upwards. In terms of regular drunkenness (drunk ten times or more during the last 12 months), Ireland ranked second after Denmark (34%) in 2003. In the same year, Ireland ranked highest of the 35 ESPAD countries in terms of the number of school-going children who engaged in binge drinking three times or more in the last 30 days.

In terms of drug use in Ireland, there was a notable increase in lifetime use of any illicit drug between 1999 (32%) and 2003 (40%), up eight per cent, (Table 2). This increase followed a drop between 1995 and 1999. Ireland ranked joint third after the Czech Republic (44%) and Switzerland (41%) for lifetime experience of any illicit drug in 2003. The average for the 35 ESPAD countries in 2003 was 22 per cent.

*includes cannabis, amphetamines, LSD or other hallucinogens, crack, cocaine, heroin and ecstasyNA = Not Available

The majority of those who have tried any illicit drug have used cannabis (marijuana or hashish). The lifetime prevalence rates for cannabis use are thus similar to those for use of any illicit drug and reflect the same trend. Lifetime use of inhalants dropped slightly between 1999 (22%) and 2003 (18%) but remains high. The average for the 35 ESPAD countries in 2003 was 10 per cent.

The Irish 2003 ESPAD survey was managed by Dr Mark Morgan, St Patrick’s College, Dublin, and funded by the Department of Health and Children. The sampling strategy involved a two-step process. All secondary schools were divided into three strata (single-sex secondary, mixed secondary, and vocational and community schools). In the first sampling step, schools were selected within each strata proportionate to the number of schools in the sampling frame. A total of 120 schools were selected in this manner. In the second sampling step, two grade five classes were randomly selected from these schools. Out of the 120 selected schools, 108 agreed to participate and, out of the 216 classes chosen from these schools, 196 participated. Students in these classes who were born in 1987 were asked to complete a questionnaire administered by a teacher in the school. A special room in each school was provided for this purpose. Data collection was carried out during April. A total of 2,407 students participated in the survey. The response rate (participating students in participating classes) was 96 per cent. No information was available on the students in non-participating schools or classes. As indicated above, the desired target population in the ESPAD survey was students born in 1987. However, the ESPAD report notes that in Ireland grade five accommodates only about 67 per cent of all students born in 1987. Consequently, the Irish results cannot be generalised to 1987-born students in other grades.

1. Hibell et al. (2004) The ESPAD Report 2003. Alcohol and other drug use among students in 35 European countries. Stockholm: The Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN), Council of Europe, Co-operation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs (Pompidou Group).

Ecstasy use is almost completely confined to younger respondents.
Overall, twelve percent (12% in 1998) of children report using cannabis during their lifetime, with 11% (10%) reporting using it in the past 12 months.

Figure 25: Percentages of boys reporting cannabis use in the last 12 months

Numbers reporting cannabis use are higher than previously and do reflect a positive class gradient, unlike the inverse pattern seen among younger adults.

Figure 26: Percentages of girls reporting cannabis use in the past 12 months