Developing Surveillance for Alcohol Abuse, Dependence, and Related
Consequences in New Mexico
Sandra Woerle, MA
New Mexico Department of Health
Office of Epidemiology
Historical Background to Alcohol Epidemiology in New
Mexico• 1990 Substance Abuse Unit created within Office
of Epidemiology at NM Department of Health Primary funding through Centers for Substance Abuse
Treatment (CSAT) One State-funded Epidemiologist
• Spring 2002 entered into discussions with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Alcohol Epidemiologist as of 12/2002
New Mexico Alcohol Epidemiology Cooperative Partners
• Behavioral Health Services Division• Office of Medical Investigator• Office of Vital Records and Health Statistics• Office of Epidemiology Injury and Survey Units• Family Health Bureau• Health Policy Commission• Alcohol Issue Consortium• UNM Division of Government Research• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Substance Abuse Indicator Assessment
• Mortality- Office of Vital Records and Health Statistics; Office of Medical
Investigator (OMI); Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS)
• Morbidity- Hospital Impatient Discharge Database (HIDD)
• Behaviors- Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS); Youth Risk and
Resiliency Survey (YRRS); Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS)
• Services- Treatment Episode Data System (TEDS)
• Crime- Uniform Crime Report (UCR); Citation Tracking System (CTS);
Local DWI Grant Program Screening and Tracking
Alcohol-Related Deaths RatesNew Mexico, 1990-2000
468
1012141618202224
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Dea
ths
per
100
,000
per
son
s
NMUS
Sources: New Mexico Office of Vital Records and Health Statistics, CDC WonderICD9 291, 303, 305.0, 357.5, 425.5, 535.3, 790.3, 571.0-571.3, E860 Age-adjusted to US 2000 population
Alcohol-Related Deaths in the USTop State Rankings, 1990-1998
State Rank Rate per 100,000
Alaska 1 19.5
New Mexico 2 17.6
Nevada 3 16.7
Source: CDC Wonder
Alcohol-Involved Crash Fatalities New Mexico and US, 1995-2001
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Dea
ths
per
100,
000
pers
ons
NMUS
Source: UNM Division of Government Research
Alcohol-Related Deaths and Alcohol-Involved Crash Fatalities
New Mexico 1995-1999
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Dea
ths
Per
100
,000
NMUS
Source: BRFSS
Alcohol Behavior Patterns in New Mexico: Findings from
BRFSS
Prevalence of Binge Drinking*New Mexico and US, 1997-2001
02
46
810
1214
1618
1997 1999 2001 2002
Per
cent
USNM
Source: BRFSS
* 5 or more drinks on one occasion
Prevalence of Heavy Drinking* New Mexico and US, 1991-2001
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001
Per
cent US
NM
Source: BRFSS* More than 2 drinks/day for males and more than 1 drink/day for females
Prevalence of Self-Reported Driving Under the Influence in New Mexico,
1998, 1999, 2000, and 2002
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
1998 1999 2000 2002
Per
cent
Source: BRFSS
Total Number of Self-Reported Driving While Under the Influence Episodes/Year
New Mexico 1998-2002
0100200300400500
600700800900
1000
1998 1999 2000 2002
Tot
al E
piso
des
in T
hous
ands
Source: BRFSS
Prevalence for Self-Reported Driving Under the Influence
Selected States, 1999
0 2 4 6 8 10
Maine
New Mexico
United States
Arizona
Colorado
Nevada
Percent
Source:CDC BRFSS Prevalence Tables
Prevalence for Self-Reported Driving Under the Influence by GenderNew Mexico 1999, 2000, 2002
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
1999 2000 2002
Per
cent Male
Female
Prevalence of Self-Reported Driving Under the Influence by Race/Ethnicity
New Mexico 1998-2000
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
White Hispanic AmericanIndian
Other
Per
cent
Source: BRFSSP value= .03
Prevalence of Self-Reported Driving Under the Influence by Age
New Mexico 1998-2000
00.5
11.5
22.5
33.5
44.5
5
18-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61+
Per
cent
Source: BRFSS
Prevalence of Self-Reported Driving Under the Influence by Marital Status
New Mexico 1998-2000
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Married Divorced Separated Single
Per
cent
Source: BRFSS
Prevalence of Self-Reported Driving Under the Influence by Employment
New Mexico 1998-2000
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Employed Unemployed Student Other
Per
cent
Source: BRFSS
Prevalence of Self-Reported Driving Under the Influence by Income
New Mexico 1998-2000
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
<$10K <$15K <$20K <$25K <$35K <$50K <$75K >$75K
Per
cent
Source: BFRSSP value= .08
Prevalence of Self-Reported Driving Under the Influence by BHSD Region
New Mexico 1998-2000
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
Region 1 Region2 Region 3 Region 4 Region 5
Per
cent
Source: BRFSS
Prevalence of Alcohol DependenceNew Mexico 2002
• Alcohol dependence obtained by state-added questions to BRFSS.
• Prevalence rate for past 12 months of 1.7
• 7.2 percent of binge drinkers are alcohol dependent
• National Household Survey on Drug Abuse showed alcohol dependence at 4.0
• 82% of self-reported DUI also report binge-drinking in past 30 days
Summary of Risk Behaviors• Alcohol risk behavior indicators vary:
- State binge drinking prevalence has remained stable;although significant changes occur within and between specific groups
- Heavy drinking has increased - Self-reported DUI has declined- Significant risk factors for DUI are male, younger,
never married, and student status or employed- BRFSS identified “problem” drinkers are not alcohol
dependent- There is an association between self-reported DUI
and binge drinking
Treatment Admissions by Primary Substance by Sex
New Mexico, 2000-2002
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Alcohol
Marijuana
Cocaine
Heroin
Meth
FemaleMale
Source: TEDS July 2000-April 2002
ConclusionsAlcohol surveillance in New Mexico is a complex picture
Alcohol-related mortality rate is well above the national rate and is increasing
• Alcohol-related risk behaviors are stable or decreasing
• Patterns of alcohol use within sub-populations are crucial to understanding burden of alcohol in New Mexico
• Future work needs to address New Mexico specific issues
A Comparison of BRFSS to Screening & Tracking Using Santa Fe County, 2000
BRFSS• 70% Male• 47% Hispanic• 42% Married• 74% Employed• 26% Earn $25,000 to
$35,000/Year• 36% H.S. Grad and
36% College Grad
S & T• 78% Male• 69% Hispanic• 42% Never Married• 66% Employed• 65% Earn <$20,000• 44% H.S. Grad
Putting It All Together
• Multiple sources may reveal gaps in services or programming.
• Multiple data sources allow for comparisons to evaluate existing policies and plan for future program development
• BRFSS 2004 will include binge drinking module to obtain more information regarding type of alcoholic beverage and where last obtained alcohol.
Contact Information
Judith Harmon, MAManagement Analyst
Office of Epidemiology
1190 St. Francis Drive
Santa Fe, NM 87502
(505) 476-3576