Social disparities in hazardous XXXX use: self-report bias may lead to incorrect estimates.

@entity1 @entity285 @entity457
BACKGROUND: Self-report bias in surveys of @entity285 consumption is widely documented; however, less is known about the distribution of such bias by socioeconomic status (SES) and about the possible impact on social disparities. This study aims to assess social disparities in @entity457 ( @entity457 ) and to analyze how correcting @entity285 consumption data for self-report bias may affect estimates of disparities. METHODS: National survey data from 13 countries, Canada, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland and USA, are used to examine social disparities in @entity457 by SES and education level. Defining @entity457 as drinking above 3 drinks/day for @entity1 and 2 for @entity1 , social disparities were assessed by calculating country-level concentration indexes. Aggregate consumption data were used to correct survey-based estimates for self-report bias. RESULTS: Survey data show that more-educated @entity1 are more likely than less-educated @entity1 to engage in @entity457 , while the opposite is observed in @entity1 in most countries. Large discrepancies in @entity285 consumption between survey-based and aggregate estimates were found. Correcting for self-report bias increased estimates of social disparities in @entity1 , and decreased them in @entity1 , to the point that gradients were reversed in several countries (from higher rates in low education/SES @entity1 to an opposite pattern). CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence of a likely misestimation of social disparities in @entity457 , in both @entity1 and @entity1 , due to self-report bias in @entity285 consumption surveys. This study contributes to a better knowledge of the social dimensions of @entity457 and to the targeting of @entity285 policies.
