The study examined heavy episodic drinking (5+ drinks a day) and high-intensity drinking (8+ and 12+ drinks) in US adults. It pooled nine National Alcohol Surveys from 1984 to 2024, covering 59,514 people aged 18 or older. Survey-weighted time-varying effect models, run separately by sex, let trends by age, race and ethnicity, and education vary over time. Prevalence at all three levels declined from 1984, but from 2010 heavy-drinking days rose for women more than men. Heavy drinking declined among young adults but increased among middle-aged and older adults. The models were descriptive, so they do not explain why the trends changed.
Why it is interesting: Fewer adults drink heavily than in 1984, but heavy-drinking days have become more frequent since 2010. The rise is among women and older adults, not the young adults that most attention has focused on.
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