Alcohol use and health care utilization in rural Liberia: Results of a community-based survey for basic public health indicators

  • Ana A. Weil Massachusetts General Hospital and Last Mile Health
  • Corey M. Cameron Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies and Last Mile Health
  • Jacob Soumerai Massachusetts General Hospital and Last Mile Health
  • Kerry L. Dierberg The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Last Mile Health
  • Alphonso Geelue Mouwon Last Mile Health
  • David R. Kraemer Kansas Wesleyan University
  • Daniela Lewy The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
  • Patrick T. Lee Massachusetts General Hospital and Last Mile Health
  • John D. Kraemer Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies and Last Mile Health
  • Mark J. Siedner Massachusetts General Hospital and Last Mile Health
Keywords: Community health worker, alcohol use, health care utilization, resource limited setting

Abstract

Weil, A., Cameron, C., Soumerai, J., Dierberg, K., Mouwon, A., Kraemer, D., Lewy, D., Lee, P., Kraemer, J., & Siedner, M. (2014). Alcohol use and health care utilization in rural Liberia: Results of a community-based survey for basic public health indicators. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 3(2), 169-181. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v3i2.147

Aim: To measure the association between alcohol use and health-seeking behavior in post-conflict Liberia.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Setting: A community in rural southeast Liberia, from January 11 to January 16, 2010

Participants: 600 heads-of-household.

Measures: Logistic regression models for estimation of associations between alcohol use and indicators of healthcare utilization. Frequent alcohol use was defined as drinking more than seven days out of the last two weeks.

Findings: Frequent alcohol use was reported by 14.9% of participants. These respondents were less likely to attend clinic for chronic cough (Adjusted Odds Ratio, AOR 0.40, 95% CI 0.18-0.87), to have had an HIV test (AOR 0.39, 95% CI 0.19-0.77), and to have accessed prenatal care (AOR = 0.26, 95% CI 0.12-0.54). Approximately 25% of all respondents had no access to latrines, and half reported going to sleep hungry in the past week.

Conclusions: Within households in post-conflict Liberia, there is an association between reduced health care utilization and frequent alcohol use self-reported by a head of household or primary caregiver.

Author Biographies

Ana A. Weil, Massachusetts General Hospital and Last Mile Health

Clinical Fellow, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States

Last Mile Health, Cambridge, MA, United States

Corey M. Cameron, Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies and Last Mile Health

Student, Department of International Health, Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies, Washington, DC, United States

Last Mile Health, Cambridge, MA, United States

 

Jacob Soumerai, Massachusetts General Hospital and Last Mile Health

Clinical Fellow, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States

Last Mile Health, Cambridge, MA, United States

Kerry L. Dierberg, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Last Mile Health

Clinical Fellow, Department of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States

Last Mile Health, Cambridge, MA, United States

Alphonso Geelue Mouwon, Last Mile Health

Director of Community Health Worker Program

Last Mile Health, Cambridge, MA, United States

David R. Kraemer, Kansas Wesleyan University

Professor, Department of Computer Studies, Kansas Wesleyan University, Salina, KS, United States

Last Mile Health, Cambridge, MA, United States

Daniela Lewy, The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health

Associate Researcher, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States

Patrick T. Lee, Massachusetts General Hospital and Last Mile Health

Director, Global Primary Care Program

Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States

Last Mile Health, Cambridge, MA, United States

John D. Kraemer, Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies and Last Mile Health

Assistant Professor, Department of Health Systems Administration, Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies, Washington, DC, United States

Last Mile Health, Cambridge, MA, United States

Mark J. Siedner, Massachusetts General Hospital and Last Mile Health

Clinical Fellow, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States

Last Mile Health, Cambridge, MA, United States

Published
2014-07-24
How to Cite
Weil, A. A., Cameron, C. M., Soumerai, J., Dierberg, K. L., Mouwon, A. G., Kraemer, D. R., Lewy, D., Lee, P. T., Kraemer, J. D., & Siedner, M. J. (2014). Alcohol use and health care utilization in rural Liberia: Results of a community-based survey for basic public health indicators. International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research, 3(2), 169-181. https://doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v3i2.147
Section
Papers