Booze and living solo

Do solo dwellers drink alcohol more than  individuals living with others? Yes, at least in Finland, according to this article in the New York Times.
I drink less when I am on my own, maybe I am one of the few social drinker… 

VITAL SIGNS

Risks: Alcohol Deaths and the Solo Life

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

Published: October 3, 2011

Researchers at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health studied deaths before and after a reduction in the price of alcohol in Finland, and tracked the fatalities attributable toalcohol abuse — liver disease, alcohol poisoning, alcohol-related violence or accidents, among others. The results appear in the September issue of PLoS Medicine.

Among married or cohabiting people, the rate of death from alcohol-related causes was about the same before and after the price reduction. Before the reduction, men living alone were 3.7 times as likely to die of liver disease, the most common alcohol-caused illness, as men with partners. After the reduction, men living alone were 4.9 times as likely to die of liver disease.

Before the reduction, the risk of dying of liver disease for women who lived alone was 1.7 times that of women who lived with others. After the reduction, the risk was 2.4 times higher.

“Some people abuse alcohol because they are living alone, and some live alone because they drink too much,” said Kimmo Herttua, the lead author. “Both explanations are accurate.”

The researchers said the study’s conclusions may not be applicable to other populations and cultures.