Nelson: A sober look at drinking survey

By Robert Nelson

World-Herald columnist

Nebraskans are the second-biggest drunks in America.

That was my mental shorthand after seeing the study this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control that Nebraska trailed only Wisconsin in the percentage of survey respondents who admitted to "binge drinking" in the 30 days before they were interviewed in 2010.

Both the joking and hand-wringing have begun.

Not to be a buzzkill, but what might be more useful is a sober look at not only the methodology of this study but also what the study actually says and doesn't say.

"There continues to be substantial debate among scientists and researchers about what constitutes meaningful data related to alcohol use," said Chris Ringwalt, senior scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation and one of three authors of a 2010 CDC report titled — seriously — "The Validity of State Survey Estimates of Binge Drinking."

"In general you find that surveys alone actually do a fairly good job of matching with much broader epidemiological studies of alcohol use and abuse," he said. "But that doesn't mean they're perfect in any way."

Let's work off the premise that this latest survey, say, shows Nebraska has the second-biggest problem with alcohol abuse of any state in the country.

Now let's dismantle that idea.

In data of per-capita alcohol consumption from 2007, Nebraska didn't place in the top 10 states for consumption of beer, nor wine nor spirits, nor in the top 10 of total per-capita consumption of alcohol.

According to a 2007 study by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services' Division of Public Health, Nebraska was significantly lower than the national average in alcohol-related deaths, chronic liver disease death and homicides in which alcohol was believed to be a contributing factor.

Reports from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, also cited in that 2007 DHHS study, showed that Nebraska has a lower per-capita number of alcohol-related motor vehicle fatalities compared with the national average.

The number of Nebraskans reporting alcohol dependence in that study was nearly identical to the national average.

For men, binge drinking is defined in the CDC study as having five or more drinks on one occasion in the month prior. For women, four drinks in one sitting is considered binge drinking.

Perhaps a better indicator of dangerous drinking habits are studies of what is deemed "heavy drinking." Nebraska has traditionally scored lower than the national average of men drinking more than 60 drinks in a month or women drinking more than 30 drinks per month.

Or, statistics deep in the CDC survey showing how often the respondents drank more than four or five drinks in the month prior. Nebraska was actually in the bottom 15 of states, with Nebraskans reporting having engaged in binge drinking 4.2 times in the month prior. Most states were between four and five episodes.

"Every piece of data is valuable and gives us a better understanding of the patterns of alcohol abuse in Nebraska and what needs to be done to help prevent it," said Dr. Joann Schaefer, chief medical officer for the state of Nebraska. "No one is saying don't drink alcohol if you're of age, we're saying pay attention to the amount you're drinking and the time frame in which you're consuming it."

In the explanation of the methodology used in the current CDC survey results was an interesting note: 2010 was the first year the CDC surveyors called cellphones.

Researchers noted that including cellphones in the survey could skew the newest data to indicate more binge drinking by younger responders, because many men and women in the heavier-drinking 19-to-25 age group have only cellphones.

Lincoln, obviously a big college town, shot up in the city binge-drinking rankings to No. 3 in the nation. The city's rate of 22.7 percent shot up 4.9 from 2009 after several years of no substantial increase.

"The shift to calling cellphone users," Ringwalt said, "has definitely moved up the numbers around college towns."

Now, just go out on the Web and find all the magazine-type rankings of cities and states in regards to drinking. All use various combinations of various criteria and all come up with vastly different rankings.

For example, the website mainstreet.com, which has never met a top 10 list it won't publish, doesn't have Nebraska listed as one of its top 10 "Drunkest States in America."

Men's Health magazine has Lincoln ranked only 52nd in its list of "America's Drunkest Cities." Omaha was 39th.

Fresno, Calif., led that study's list in several measures of dangerous drinking behaviors.

Simply, a broader view of alcohol use and abuse data would suggest Nebraskans are probably closer to average in their drinking habits than the world-class party animals the CDC survey might suggest.

I mean, yes, sure, this doesn't at all mean that many Nebraskans aren't problem drinkers, that too many young people aren't drinking too much and that too many people aren't still driving the roads after drinking.

But runner-up to Wisconsin? Nebraskans drinking toe to toe with Badgers and Cheeseheads?

What's the CDC been smokin'?

Contact the writer:

402-444-1129, robert.nelson@owh.com

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