Cited by 114Substance Abuse Treatment and OutcomesAlcohol Consumption and Health EffectsMental Health Treatment and Access

The Epidemiology of Alcohol Use and Alcohol Use Disorders among Young People in Northern Tanzania

Open access
Francis, Joel M., Weiss, Helen A., Mshana, Gerry, Baisley, Kathy, Grosskurth, Heiner, Kapiga, Saidi H.·2015·PLOS ONE

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Alcohol use is a global public health problem, including as a risk factor for HIV infection, but few data are available on the epidemiology of alcohol use and alcohol use disorders (AUD) among young people in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 4 groups of young people aged 15-24 years old (secondary school students, college/university students, employees of local industries and casual labourers) in two regions (Kilimanjaro and Mwanza) of northern Tanzania. Using a multistage stratified random sampling strategy, we collected information on demographics, alcohol use, and behavioural factors. We screened severity of alcohol use using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) and estimated the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption using the timeline-follow-back-calendar (TLFB) method. RESULTS: A total of 1954 young people were surveyed. The prevalence of reported alcohol use was higher among males (47-70% ever users and 20-45% current users) than females (24-54% ever users and 12-47% current users). Prevalence of use was substantially higher in Kilimanjaro than Mwanza region. In both regions, participants reported high exposure to alcohol advertisements, and wide alcohol availability. College students reported the highest prevalence of current alcohol use (45% among males; 26% among females) and of heavy episodic drinking (71% among males; 27% among females) followed by casual labourers. Males were more likely to have AUD (an AUDIT score ≥8) than females, with 11-28% of males screening positive for AUD. Alcohol use was associated with male gender, being in a relationship, greater disposable income, non-Muslim religion and a higher number of sexual partners. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol use is a significant problem among young people in northern Tanzania. There is an urgent need to develop, pilot and deliver interventions to help young people delay initiation and reduce levels of harmful drinking, particularly among college students and casual labourers.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1371/journal.pone.0140041

Cites

35 of 35 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

3 of the 38 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [25]Sobell LC, Sobell MB, editor. Timeline followback: A technique for assessing self-reported alcohol consumption New Jersey: Humana Press; 1992.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Francis, J. M., Weiss, H. A., Mshana, G., Baisley, K., Grosskurth, H., & Kapiga, S. H.
Affiliations
  • London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
  • National Institute for Medical Research (TZ)
Corresponding author
Francis, Joel M.
Venue
PLOS ONE
Published
2015-10-07
Volume
10
Issue
10
Pages
e0140041
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2196354193
Cited by
114
References
38
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1
FWCI
3.92
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • LSHTM Research Online (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Department for International Development
  • Medical Research Council (MR/K012126/1)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
Keywords
alcohol consumption, alcoholism, youth, university students, binge drinking, alcohol availability, sex differences, sexual partners, HIV risk, northern Tanzania, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mwanza
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Alcohol Drinking, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Income, Male, Risk Factors, Sex Factors, Sexual Partners, Students, Tanzania, Prevalence, Alcohol-Related Disorders, Young Adult

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review