This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (8)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Substance Abuse/ Alcoholism  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: In their article on binge drinking among US adults Dr Naimi and colleagues¹ defined binge drinking as "the consumption of 5 or more alcoholic beverages on one occasion." Although this definition of abusive drinking is frequently used in research, it may have little clinical relevance.

First, this definition does not account for the drinker's weight or drinking history, the time period over which the alcohol was consumed, or whether any food was eaten during the drinking episode. Not surprisingly, studies have demonstrated that a sizeable percentage of so-called binge drinkers fail to reach blood alcohol concentrations of 0.06% or higher.^2-3

Second, their definition does not conform to the clinical meaning of binge drinking, which refers to an intermittent yet prolonged episode of alcohol abuse.⁴ The popular concept of binge drinking is similar. Consequently, the public can misinterpret headlines about binge drinking research and develop an exaggerated view . . . [Full Text of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLES

Definitions of Binge Drinking—Reply
Tim Naimi, Bob Brewer, Ali Mokdad, Clark Denny, Mary Serdula, and Jim Marks
JAMA. 2003;289(13):1636.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Binge Drinking Among US Adults
Timothy S. Naimi, Robert D. Brewer, Ali Mokdad, Clark Denny, Mary K. Serdula, and James S. Marks
JAMA. 2003;289(1):70-75.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Estimated Blood Alcohol Concentrations for Child and Adolescent Drinking and Their Implications for Screening Instruments
Donovan
Pediatrics 2009;123:e975-e981.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Binge-drinking in Britain as a Social and Cultural Phenomenon: The Development of a Grounded Theoretical Model
Van Wersch and Walker
J Health Psychol 2009;14:124-134.
ABSTRACT