Table of Contents

Component Description

The NHANES program suspended field operations in March 2020 due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As a result, data collection for the NHANES 2019-2020 cycle was not completed and the collected data are not nationally representative. Therefore, data collected from 2019 to March 2020 were combined with data from the NHANES 2017-2018 cycle to form a nationally representative sample of NHANES 2017-March 2020 pre-pandemic data. These data are available to the public. Please refer to the Analytic Notes section for more details on the use of the data.

The NHANES program suspended field operations in March 2020 due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As a result, data collection for the NHANES 2019-2020 cycle was not completed and the collected data are not nationally representative. Therefore, data collected from 2019 to March 2020 were combined with data from the NHANES 2017-2018 cycle to form a nationally representative sample of NHANES 2017-March 2020 pre-pandemic data. These data are available to the public. Please refer to the Analytic Notes section for more details on the use of the data.

Eligible Sample

All participants ages 12 years and older in the NHANES 2017-March 2020 pre-pandemic sample were eligible; however, only data from participants who were ages 18 and over are included in this file.

A special use data file for participants ages 12-17, P_ALQY_R, is available through the NCHS Research Data Center (RDC).

Interview Setting and Mode of Administration

The ALQ section was administered at the Mobile Examination Center (MEC) during the MEC Interview, except the question on binge drinking frequency in the past 30 days (ALQ170), which was asked at the end of the in-person dietary interview in the MEC. For adults 18 years and older, questions were asked, by trained interviewers, using the Computer-Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) system. A proxy provided information for survey participants who were could not answer the questions themselves.

The NHANES 2017-2018 and 2019-2020 alcohol use questionnaires are available on the NHANES website.

Quality Assurance & Quality Control

The CAPI system is programmed with built-in consistency checks to reduce data entry errors. CAPI also uses online help screens to assist interviewers in defining key terms used in the questionnaire.

For details on the QA/QC process for this component, please refer to the 2017-2018 MEC Interviewer Procedures and 2019-2020 MEC Interviewer Procedures manuals, and the 2017-2018 MEC In-Person Dietary Interviewers manual and 2019-2020 MEC In-Person Dietary Interviewers manual on the NHANES website.

Data Processing and Editing

The data were edited for completeness, consistency, and illogical values. Because the data are based on self-reports, not all inconsistencies could be resolved. It is recommended that analysts review the data carefully prior to analysis.

Analytic Notes

The COVID-19 pandemic required suspension of NHANES 2019-2020 field operations in March 2020 after data were collected in 18 of the 30 survey locations in the 2019-2020 sample. Data collection was cancelled for the remaining 12 locations. Because the collected data from 18 locations were not nationally representative, these data were combined with data from the previous cycle (2017-2018) to create a 2017-March 2020 pre-pandemic data file. A special weighting process was applied to the 2017-March 2020 pre-pandemic data file. The resulting sample weights in the demographic file should be used to calculate estimates from the combined cycles. These sample weights are not appropriate for independent analyses of the 2019-2020 data and will not yield nationally representative results for either the 2017-2018 data alone or the 2019-March 2020 data alone. Please refer to the NHANES website for additional information for the NHANES 2017-March 2020 pre-pandemic data, and for the previous 2017-2018 public use data file with specific weights for that 2-year cycle.

The NHANES ALQ asked to adults 18 years and over were not changed between the 2017-2018 and 2019-2020 data collection cycle. However, the NHANES alcohol questions asked to adults 18 and over were changed between the 2015-2016 cycle and the 2017-March 2020 pre-pandemic cycle. These changes are described in the Analytic Notes of the 2017-2018 alcohol use data documentation.

Question ALQ170 was asked in a different component (i.e., in-person dietary recall interview), and there will be respondents to ALQ170 without any other alcohol use data and vice versa. Consistent with the approached used in the National Health Interview Survey, the phrase “on an occasion” was self-defined by each participant.

All the NHANES 2017-March 2020 pre-pandemic ALQ data were collected in the MEC; therefore, exam sample weights should be used for the analyses. Please refer to the NHANES Analytic Guidelines and the on-line NHANES Tutorial for further details on the use of sample weights and other analytic issues.

 

Codebook and Frequencies

SEQN - Respondent sequence number

Variable Name:
SEQN
SAS Label:
Respondent sequence number
English Text:
Respondent sequence number.
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS

ALQ111 - Ever had a drink of any kind of alcohol

Variable Name:
ALQ111
SAS Label:
Ever had a drink of any kind of alcohol
English Text:
The next questions are about drinking alcoholic beverages. Included are liquor (such as whiskey or gin), beer, wine, wine coolers, and any other type of alcoholic beverage. In {your/SP's} entire life, {have you/has he/has she} had at least 1 drink of any kind of alcohol, not counting small tastes or sips? By a drink, I mean a 12 oz. beer, a 5 oz. glass of wine, or one and a half ounces of liquor.
English Instructions:
HAND CARD ALQ1
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Yes 7503 7503
2 No 867 8370 End of Section
7 Refused 0 8370
9 Don't know 0 8370
. Missing 595 8965

ALQ121 - Past 12 mo how often drink alcoholic bev

Variable Name:
ALQ121
SAS Label:
Past 12 mo how often drink alcoholic bev
English Text:
During the past 12 months, about how often did {you/SP} drink any type of alcoholic beverage? PROBE: How many days per week, per month, or per year did {you/SP} drink?
English Instructions:
HAND CARD ALQ2
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Never in the last year 1638 1638 ALQ151
1 Every day 240 1878
2 Nearly every day 273 2151
3 3 to 4 times a week 514 2665
4 2 times a week 586 3251
5 Once a week 562 3813
6 2 to 3 times a month 1042 4855
7 Once a month 570 5425
8 7 to 11 times in the last year 457 5882
9 3 to 6 times in the last year 795 6677
10 1 to 2 times in the last year 822 7499
77 Refused 2 7501
99 Don't know 2 7503
. Missing 1462 8965

ALQ130 - Avg # alcoholic drinks/day - past 12 mos

Variable Name:
ALQ130
SAS Label:
Avg # alcoholic drinks/day - past 12 mos
English Text:
During the past 12 months, on those days that {you/SP} drank alcoholic beverages, on the average, how many drinks did {you/he/she} have? By a drink, I mean a 12 oz. beer, a 5 oz. glass of wine, or one and a half ounces of liquor.)
English Instructions:
ENTER # OF DRINKS. IF LESS THAN 1 DRINK, ENTER '1'.
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Hard Edits:
1 to 14
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 to 13 Range of Values 5824 5824
15 15 drinks or more 29 5853
777 Refused 1 5854
999 Don't know 9 5863
. Missing 3102 8965

ALQ142 - # days have 4 or 5 drinks/past 12 mos

Variable Name:
ALQ142
SAS Label:
# days have 4 or 5 drinks/past 12 mos
English Text:
During the past 12 months, about how often did {you/SP} have {DISPLAY NUMBER} or more drinks of any alcoholic beverage? PROBE: How many days per week, per month, or per year did {you/SP} have {DISPLAY NUMBER} or more drinks in a single day?
English Instructions:
HAND CARD ALQ2 INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION: IF SP ANSWERS NONE, PLEASE CODE '0', NEVER IN THE LAST YEAR. CAPI INSTRUCTION: IF SP = MALE, DISPLAY = 5 IF SP = FEMALE, DISPLAY = 4 HARD EDIT: ALQ142 CANNOT HAVE A LOWER CODED VALUE THAN ALQ121, UNLESS ALQ142 IS CODED '0'. ERROR MESSAGE: "SP HAS REPORTED DRINKING MORE TIMES IN THIS QUESTION THAN WAS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED IN ALQ121."
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Never in the last year 3381 3381 ALQ151
1 Every day 60 3441
2 Nearly every day 52 3493
3 3 to 4 times a week 114 3607
4 2 times a week 176 3783
5 Once a week 164 3947
6 2 to 3 times a month 349 4296
7 Once a month 269 4565
8 7 to 11 times in the last year 174 4739
9 3 to 6 times in the last year 407 5146
10 1 to 2 times in the last year 698 5844
77 Refused 2 5846
99 Don't know 17 5863
. Missing 3102 8965

ALQ270 - # times 4-5 drinks in 2hrs/past 12 mos

Variable Name:
ALQ270
SAS Label:
# times 4-5 drinks in 2hrs/past 12 mos
English Text:
During the past 12 months, about how often did {you/SP} have {DISPLAY NUMBER} or more drinks in a period of two hours or less?
English Instructions:
HAND CARD ALQ2 CAPI INSTRUCTION: IF SP = MALE, DISPLAY = 5 IF SP= FEMALE, DISPLAY = 4 HARD EDIT: ALQ270 CANNOT HAVE A LOWER CODED VALUE THAN ALQ121, UNLESS ALQ.270 IS CODED '0'. ERROR MESSAGE: "SP HAS REPORTED DRINKING MORE TIMES IN THIS QUESTION THAN WAS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED IN ALQ121."
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Never in the last year 1362 1362
1 Every day 29 1391
2 Nearly every day 27 1418
3 3 to 4 times a week 41 1459
4 2 times a week 60 1519
5 Once a week 84 1603
6 2 to 3 times a month 96 1699
7 Once a month 133 1832
8 7 to 11 times in the last year 61 1893
9 3 to 6 times in the last year 135 2028
10 1 to 2 times in the last year 412 2440
77 Refused 2 2442
99 Don't know 29 2471
. Missing 6494 8965

ALQ280 - # times 8+ drinks in 1 day/past 12 mos

Variable Name:
ALQ280
SAS Label:
# times 8+ drinks in 1 day/past 12 mos
English Text:
During the past 12 months, about how often did {you/SP} have 8 or more drinks in a single day?
English Instructions:
HAND CARD ALQ2 HARD EDIT: ALQ280 CANNOT HAVE A LOWER CODED VALUE THAN ALQ121, UNLESS ALQ.280 IS CODED '0'. ERROR MESSAGE: "SP HAS REPORTED DRINKING MORE TIMES IN THIS QUESTION THAN WAS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED IN ALQ121."
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Never in the last year 1538 1538 ALQ151
1 Every day 17 1555
2 Nearly every day 26 1581
3 3 to 4 times a week 34 1615
4 2 times a week 53 1668
5 Once a week 68 1736
6 2 to 3 times a month 76 1812
7 Once a month 109 1921
8 7 to 11 times in the last year 60 1981
9 3 to 6 times in the last year 126 2107
10 1 to 2 times in the last year 353 2460
77 Refused 2 2462
99 Don't know 9 2471
. Missing 6494 8965

ALQ290 - # times 12+ drinks in 1 day/past 12 mos

Variable Name:
ALQ290
SAS Label:
# times 12+ drinks in 1 day/past 12 mos
English Text:
During the past 12 months, about how often did {you/SP} have 12 or more drinks in a single day?
English Instructions:
HAND CARD ALQ2 HARD EDIT: ALQ290 CANNOT HAVE A LOWER CODED VALUE THAN ALQ121, UNLESS ALQ.290 IS CODED '0'. ERROR MESSAGE: "SP HAS REPORTED DRINKING MORE TIMES IN THIS QUESTION THAN WAS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED IN ALQ121."
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Never in the last year 502 502
1 Every day 5 507
2 Nearly every day 11 518
3 3 to 4 times a week 16 534
4 2 times a week 23 557
5 Once a week 47 604
6 2 to 3 times a month 38 642
7 Once a month 45 687
8 7 to 11 times in the last year 29 716
9 3 to 6 times in the last year 46 762
10 1 to 2 times in the last year 162 924
77 Refused 1 925
99 Don't know 8 933
. Missing 8032 8965

ALQ151 - Ever have 4/5 or more drinks every day?

Variable Name:
ALQ151
SAS Label:
Ever have 4/5 or more drinks every day?
English Text:
Was there ever a time or times in {your/SP's} life when {you/he/she} drank {DISPLAY NUMBER} or more drinks of any kind of alcoholic beverage almost every day?
English Instructions:
CAPI INSTRUCTION: IF SP = MALE, DISPLAY = 5 IF SP = FEMALE, DISPLAY = 4.
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Yes 1125 1125
2 No 6366 7491
7 Refused 1 7492
9 Don't know 9 7501
. Missing 1464 8965

ALQ170CK - CHECK ITEM

Variable Name:
ALQ170CK
English Instructions:
IF ALQ121 = 0, GO TO THE END OF SECTION. OTHERWISE, CONTINUE.
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS

ALQ170 - Past 30 days # times 4-5 drinks on an oc

Variable Name:
ALQ170
SAS Label:
Past 30 days # times 4-5 drinks on an oc
English Text:
Considering all types of alcoholic beverages, during the past 30 days, how many times did you have {5/4} or more drinks on an occasion?
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Hard Edits:
0 to 20
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 to 20 Range of Values 5687 5687
30 More than 20 times a month 74 5761
777 Refused 36 5797
999 Don't know 52 5849
. Missing 3116 8965