Interconfessional analysis of use and related problems: the Christians and Muslims

Background

The confession to which a person has been committed to will likely influence his/her attitude towards alcohol use. Many studies have suggested that the problem of alcohol use between people of different confession, although might differ, the gap is narrowing [1, 2]. We therefore examine the differences in the pattern of alcohol use among people of different confessions - the Christians and Muslims in Minsk, Belarus.

Materials and methods

The study was randomized and anonymous. Altogether, 214 (107 Christians and 107 Muslims) people were explained the study aims and objectives. A total 65 Christians and 70 Muslims agreed to participate in the study. All respondents were administered the AUDIT, CAGE and MAST questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 16.0 version for Windows and the Pearson χ2.

Results

The present study revealed that no differences in both the number of alcohol users and problem drinkers exist (according to the results of all three screening instruments) among the Christians and Muslims. Alcohol users were 67.69% (n = 44) Christians and 57.14% (n = 40) Muslims. Problem drinkers were 27.69 (n = 18) Christians and Muslims - 34.29% (24).

Conclusions

This study is an exceptional case, where for both Christians and Muslims, the percentages (as well as the average scores in the various screening instruments) of alcohol users and problem drinkers were the same on the AUDIT, CAGE and MAST. According to the result of this study, no difference in the pattern of alcohol use exist among people of different confession in Minsk, Belarus