ABSTRACT
Background Mongolia has been undergoing an epidemiological transition since 1990s. As a result, lifestyle and health behavior related diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and injuries are growing steadily and have become the leading causes of population mortality. According to the Mongolian STEPS Survey on the Prevalence of NCD Risk Factors (2009), the summary of combined NCD risk factors demonstrates that 1 in 5 (26.4%) Mongolian adults have three or more common modifiable NCD risk factors and consumption of alcohol in the past 30 days was reported by 38.6% of the population. Goal The goal of the survey was to determine the prevalence of alcohol consumption among Bugat soum population of Bulgan province. Materials and Methods The cross-sectional survey used a questionnaire of the WHO STEPS survey and adapted it to the local specifics. Alcohol consumption was assessed using the concept of “standard drinks”. A total of 201 randomly selected 15-64 year old residents of both sexes of Bugat soum were involved in the survey. The survey data was collected in September, 2011. The survey data was fully collected using small handled computers (PDAs). Results The survey respondents, 30.3% consisting of males (16.9%) and females (41.2%) were past 12 months abstainers. Of the alcohol users, 69.7% (males 83.1% and females 58.8%) reported drinking during the past 12 months and 47.3% were current drinkers or reported alcohol use during the past 30 days. In contrary, 60.9% of males and 36.8% of females were current drinkers or reported alcohol use during the past 30 days. In terms of the frequency of alcohol use by respondents reporting drinking in the past 12 months, 39.3% drank occasionally, 21.4% drank alcohol for 1-3 days a month, 2.5% drank 1-4 days a week, 4.5% drank 5-6 days a week, and 2.0% reported daily consumption of alcohol. Conclusions The survey results showed that current drinking or consumption of alcohol in the past 30 days was reported by 47.3% in herdsmen of Bugat soum. Of these 60.9% are men and 36.8% are women. As for the quantity of consumption, the current drinkers consumed 13.3 standard drinks for men and 5.0 for women. Frequency of alcohol drinking was higher in males compared to females. The prevalence of binge drinking was 2.5% in men and 0.4% in women, and binge drinking was 6 times more common in males compared to females.