ABSTRACT Background No studies have investigated alcohol consumption patterns in a mixed sample of students and employees among Japanese young adults. This study estimated the prevalence of problematic drinking in a sample that includes 18‐ and 19‐year‐old individuals and aimed to identify factors related to problematic drinking, which may ultimately contribute to its prevention. Methods This cross‐sectional study conducted in 2019 included 5500 randomly selected adults (18–24 years) from 11 cities. Data on geographical and socioeconomic characteristics, alcohol consumption, and drinking patterns were collected. The prevalence of heavy episodic drinking (HED; consuming ≥ 60 g pure alcohol on a single occasion) and hazardous drinking (HD; daily ethanol intake ≥ 40 g for men and ≥ 20 g for women) was calculated. Binomial logistic regression analysis identified variables associated with HED + HD − group, HD + group, and HED + HD + group as dependent variables. Results Among 1743 participants who were analyzed (response rate: 32.3%), the prevalence of HED and HD was 27.2% and 17.9%, respectively. Being a student (OR = 2.20, 95% CI: 1.43–3.37) and male sex (OR = 2.26, 95% CI: 1.60–3.19) were associated with HED + HD − group, while living with parents (OR = 0.64, 95% CI: 0.43–0.94) was negatively associated with HD. Underage drinking, all‐you‐can‐drink use, smoking, and alcohol mixed with energy drinks were positively associated with all dependent variables. Conclusions This study provided data on HED and HD prevalence and associated variables. These findings could help prioritize populations for targeted intervention programs.
Yoshida et al. (2026) studied this question.