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

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.