Background Problem drinking as an increasing public health concern worldwide can cause serious disease burdens. However, studies on the association between problem drinking and mental well-being among working populations remain limited at home and abroad.
Objective This study is designed to understand the prevalence of problem drinking among occupational populations in Shanghai, and explore the association between problem drinking and employees' mental well-being, so as to provide suggestions for health promotion and interventions in the workplace.
Methods From July to August 2017, a total of 3 850 employees from 32 units or enterprises in Shanghai were recruited to complete self-administered anonymous questionnaires after informed consents were obtained. The survey included general demographic characteristics, drinking status, mental well-being scale, self-assessed health, job satisfaction, and perception to healthy organization installation. The Chinese edition of CAGE Scale and the World Health Organization Well-being Index (WHO-5) were used to measure problem drinking and mental well-being. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the difference in mental well-being among the employees grouped by different characteristics; Pearson correlation was used to investigate the associations of mental well-being with drinking and other variables; multiple linear regression was used to evaluate the association between problem drinking and mental well-being.
Results A total of 3 160 valid questionnaires were returned with a valid return rate of 82.1%. The average age of the study subjects was (36.42±9.41) years, the problem drinking rate was 6.1%, and the average score of mental well-being was 17.70±5.28. The mental well-being score of problem-drinking employees (16.69±5.74) was lower than that of non-drinkers (17.84±5.11) (P < 0.01). Among all subjects, drinking was negatively correlated with mental well-being (r=-0.068, P < 0.01). Among male employees, drinking (b=-0.46) and smoking (b=-0.65) were associated with reduced mental well-being (P < 0.05), while age (b=0.51), self-rated health (b=2.02), job satisfaction (b=2.12), and perception to healthy organization installation (b=0.74) were associated with increased mental well-being (P < 0.05); among female employees, drinking (b=-1.16) was also associated with reduced mental well-being (P < 0.05), while self-rated health (b=1.74), job satisfaction (b=1.54), and perception to healthy organization installation (b=1.54) were associated with increased mental well-being (P < 0.05).
Conclusion Problem drinking may reduce the mental well-being of employees, and restrictions on alcohol consumption among occupational groups should be strengthened in the future.
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