Self-reported alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems: A study in four Scottish towns

Self-reports of alcohol consumption among representative random samples of respondents in four Scottish towns were collected on two occasions by means of identical surveys. The towns were Ayr and Glasgow in the South and Aberdeen and Inverness in the North. Results showed that respondents in the North were significantly more likely to be drinkers than those in the South. There were considerable local variations in drinking patterns, and no clear relationship was evident between the proportion of drinkers or abstainers in any one town and the proportion of who were "heavy drinkers". Even so, the relative levels of self-reported average alcohol consumption in the four towns were closely related to the rates of alcohol-related crimes, morbidity and mortality. © 1979 Springer-Verlag