Binge Drinking: The Challenges of Definition and Its Impact on Health
Abstract
Heavy episodic alcohol use, or binge alcohol use, is a alcohol use pattern characterized by the intake of large amounts of alcohol in a short period of time, which often leads to alcohol intoxication.
There is no consensus on its operational definition, finding large methodological differences between studies in estimating the amount of alcohol consumed, as well as in defining the occasion of alcohol use and the reference time period. Keep in mind that most alcohol use with this pattern have a low risk total average alcohol consumption. Therefore, actively detecting binge alcohol use is essential to be able to identify and classify all risk alcohol use and characterize the global impact of alcohol consumption on health, society or the economy.
Its negative effects affect the alcohol user himself (intoxication, cardiovascular diseases, dependence, neurocognitive and developmental disorders, among others), but also causes harm to others (accidents, violence, harmful effects on fetal and perinatal neuronal development). These effects can be acute or chronic, even among those who adopt binge alcohol use sporadically.
Different thresholds or ways of characterizing this pattern of alcohol consumption could more adequately predict each of the associated acute and chronic effects, especially if the intensity and frequency of the episodes are considered. However, the absence of a safe threshold for alcohol consumption, both regularly and occasionally, is clear; Any intake with a binge alcohol use pattern, regardless of the threshold that is established, carries significant risks, not only for the health of the alcohol user, but also for the people around them.
