[Age-period-cohort Analysis of Change Trend in Drinking Behaviors among Adults in the Republic of Korea].

One of the major functions of public health should be monitoring levels of alcohol consumption and the changes over time. However, little attention has been paid to the changing trends in alcohol consumption in the social context. The study aim was to describe alcohol consumption levels for the period 1998-2021 in terms of the monthly prevalence of alcohol use (MPA) and the prevalence of high-risk alcohol use (PHA). Additionally, change trends were broken down by age, period, and cohort effect. The study used data from Korea's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1998 to 2021. The data showed a differential pattern of change in both MPA and PHA between gender, with men tending to exhibit a decrease or remaining at a plateau. However, women exhibited a discernible increase in both MPA and PHA. A convergence theory of drinking behavior between gender has been confirmed among Korean adults. Age-period-cohort models identify the effects of age, with both MPA and PHA reaching the highest rates at age 45 years and then declining among both men and women. During the period 2009-2011 and around 2015, the relative risk (RR) of the likelihood of MPA and PHA was higher than the RR in any other year studied, which indicates a period effect. In addition, birth cohort effects were observed in MPA and PHA among adults, with more discernible patterns in women. Policy implications were discussed with the aim of reducing harm caused by alcohol use, with a high policy priority placed on the reduction of alcohol use among women.