Alcohol consumption as a factor causing risks for population health (Russian research review)

Our review comprises medical and sociological research conducted over the last 20 years and dedicated to examining reasons and consequences of alcohol consumption in the Russian Federation. We detected that this research covered a wide range of issues starting from analyzing social contexts of alcohol consumption, microsocial, psychological, and biological factors causing alcohol-associated behavior in specific population groups, and then moving on to examining prevalence and gravity of medical and economic consequences which alcohol consumption usually leads to. We dwell on research results which explain reasons for alcohol consumption in various social and age population groups. We also describe different approaches to risk assessment procedure, assessment techniques and criteria applied for characterizing risks. We give concrete data on this bad habit prevalence in a number of the RF regions as well as data on medical-demographic losses caused by alcohol consumption. It is shown that the issue is recognized at the federal level and a number of political and administrative steps are taken to minimize it. We stress the necessity of closer cooperation between experts, authorities, and population in the process of solving tasks aimed at making our society healthier. We also reveal that risk-communication as a dialogue model is replaced with an information model; and the absence of "feedback" from risk recipients doesn't allow to adequately adjust information flows or to assess their efficiency. In our opinion, the most important task is to build up relevant risk-communications in the society as they will provide searching for most efficient dialogue techniques in the risk-communication system on alcohol addiction reasons and consequences. New risk-communication technologies should make for better risk awareness among population, above all among young people, as well as for creation of persistent attitude towards giving up alcohol as self-preserving behavior.