Factors Associated With Hazardous Alcohol use in Australian Dental Practitioners.

Objectives: To describe the prevalence of and investigate factors associated with hazardous or risky alcohol use amongst Australian dental practitioners.
Methods: An online survey of 1483 registered dental practitioners in Australia was conducted from Oct-Dec 2021. Participants self-reported alcohol consumption using the 10-item Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Other measures included the Sydney Burnout Measure and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. Participants self-reported diagnoses of depression, anxiety disorder and suicidal ideation. Participant characteristics and outcome measures were analysed using Chi-squared tests and predictors of potentially hazardous/risky alcohol consumption were explored using a binary logistic generalized linear model, using a stepped approach, including demographic, health and risk factor group variables. Odds ratios and 95% confident intervals were reported for each model.
Results: Nearly one in five (17.4%) reported potentially hazardous/risky consumption of alcohol. Demographic factors associated with increased risk of potentially hazardous/risky drinking were: being male (OR 1.43, [95% CI 1.05-1.94]) and working in an outer metropolitan (OR 1.41, [95% CI 1.00-1.99]), or regional/rural location (OR 1.55, [95% CI 1.11-2.18]). Burnout (OR 1.53, [95% CI 1.03-2.27]), a current diagnosis of depression (OR 2.28, [95% CI 1.43-3.62]), previous history of anxiety disorder (OR 1.58, [95% CI 1.01-2.46]), recent thoughts of suicide (OR 1.51, [95% CI 1.04-2.20]) and poor self-rated general health (OR 2.76, [95% CI 1.36-5.63]) were all associated with potentially hazardous/risky alcohol use. Factors such as age, practice or practitioner type, psychological distress, number of hours worked, or practice size were not associated with potentially hazardous or risky consumption of alcohol.
Conclusions: Although it is not possible to determine whether harmful alcohol consumption predisposes to mental health issues such as burnout, depression and suicidal ideation, or is a consequence of them, these findings do highlight a high prevalence of hazardous/risky alcohol use amongst Australian dental practitioners, which has important implications for practitioner wellbeing.