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Reduce the proportion of people aged 21 years and over who engaged in binge drinking in the past month — SU‑10 Data Methodology and Measurement

This objective is a Leading Health Indicator (LHI). Learn about LHIs.

On this page:  About this objective  |  Methodology  |  History

About this objective

Data

Data Source:  National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), SAMHSA

National baseline: 23.8 percent of persons aged 21 years and over reported binge drinking in the past 30 days in 2021

National target: 22.7 percent

Numerator
Number of adults aged 21 years and over who report having 5 or more drinks (for males) or 4 or more drinks (for females) at the same time or within a couple of hours of each other in at least one day during the past 30 days.
Denominator
Number of adults aged 21 years and over.
National target-setting method
Minimal statistical significance
National target-setting method details
Minimal statistical significance, assuming the same standard error for the target as for the baseline.
National target-setting method justification
Trend data are not available due to the NSDUH redesign. Data from 2021 cannot be compared or combined with data from previous years. The standard error was used to calculate a target based on minimal statistical significance, assuming the same standard error for the target as for the baseline. This method was used because it was a statistically significant improvement from the baseline. The Workgroup Subject Matter Experts viewed this as an ambitious yet achievable target.

Methodology

Questions used to obtain the national baseline data

(For additional information, please visit the data source page linked above.)

From the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health:

Numerator:
Women:
During the past 30 days, that is, since [DATE], on how many days did you have 4 or more drinks on the same occasion? By 'occasion,' we mean at the same time or within a couple of hours of each other.
Men:
During the past 30 days, that is, since [DATE], on how many days did you have 5 or more drinks on the same occasion? By 'occasion,' we mean at the same time or within a couple of hours of each other.

Methodology notes

Binge drinking is defined as drinking 5 or more alcoholic beverages for men or 4 or more alcoholic beverages for women at the same time or within a couple of hours of each other during the past 30 days. A description of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) has been published by SAMHSA.

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Modified, which includes core objectives that are continuing from Healthy People 2020 but underwent a change in measurement.
Changes between HP2020 and HP2030
This objective differs from Healthy People 2020 objective SA-14.3 in that objective SA-14.3 tracked binge drinking in the past month among persons aged 18 years and over, while this objective tracks binge drinking in the past month among persons aged 21 years and over.
Revision History
Revised. 

In 2024, the baseline was revised from 26.6% in 2018 to 23.8% in 2021. The target setting method was revised from Projection to MSS. The target was revised from 25.4% to 22.7% using the new target setting method.
Trend issues
SAMHSA started multimode data collection (in-person and web-based collection) for the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) beginning in Quarter 4 (i.e., October to December) of 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 NSDUH is based on both in-person and web interviews. Prior to 2020, NSDUH data are based on in-person data collection alone. The 2020 NSDUH included only 2 quarters (Quarters 1 and 4) of data collection unlike the four quarters of data collected in other years. Several analyses were conducted to investigate the impacts of these and related methodological issues on estimates for 2021. Using the outcomes of the comparability analyses, the following decisions were made regarding the 2021 NSDUH data. • Estimates from 2021 cannot be compared with those in 2019 or prior years because estimates from a multimode year are not comparable with estimates from a single-mode year. Estimates of change from 2019 or earlier to 2021 would probably be too greatly influenced by the mode effect. • Because of effects on estimates when some quarters of data are excluded or missing, 2020 estimates (based on two quarters of data) cannot be compared with those of any other year, including 2021. Using only 2 quarters of data may yield a different trend than use of 4 quarters of data. • NSDUH data from 2021 should not be combined or compared with any prior data.