Assess Units
The only way to really know whether or not someone's drinking is a cause for concern is to find out how many units of alcohol they drink over the course of a week, or on their heaviest drinking day.
This arrow shows how units correspond to an increasing risk of alcohol related harm.
- Safe drinking levels are 2-3 units per day for women and 3-4 units per day for men.
- It's also recommended that we all have at least 2 days alcohol free per week.
- Remember that a unit is the amount of alcohol that a healthy adult body can process in one hour.
- People who drink above safe levels are at increased risk of alcohol related harms,
- Those who drink above 50 units per week for men and 35 units per week for women are probably
already experiencing some alcohol related harm.
An accurate assessment of someone's drinking lets you figure out how much of a priority talking about alcohol needs to be in the support you deliver. The three categories of the arrow easily correspond to three levels of support.
-
Low risk - Minimal support required with this issue.
-
Increasing risk - Alcohol use should be addressed.
-
High risk - Alcohol use should be addressed as a significant issue.
See How to .... talk about alcohol and deliver alcohol interventions for more information on ways to provide this support.
Talking about units:
- It's important to talk about units of alcohol so that any advice you give is objective and consistent.
- It's also good to give service-users the skills and information to understand what they're drinking, and what's safe to drink.
We're not used to talking about units of alcohol in Scotland. As drinks are getting stronger and glass sizes bigger, many of us often underestimate the amount of alcohol we actually drink.
- It's important to consider not only how much someone drinks, but also what someone drinks, when talking about levels of alcohol related risk.
- You need to know the ABV or % of a drink, and how to calculate units in order to do this accurately.
For example if you drink 4 large (250ml) glasses of wine (12%) while your friend has 4 vodka (25ml @ 40%) and cokes, you'll drink 12 units of alcohol to their 4.
Working units out:
- The reason that many of us are unsure about how many units are in our drinks is because it involves a bit of maths to work it out.
- There are resources available to help with this; you should have been given the unit wheels or ladders at your training and these online calculators will also do the hard work for you:
http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/tips-and-tools/drink-diary/
The percentage or ABV that you see on a bottle or can of alcohol tells you how many units there would be in 1000ml of the drink. So to work out the units in a measure smaller than 1000ml you need to do the following calculation:
|
Quantity (ml) x ABV (%) 1000 | |
|
A 750ml bottle of wine at 13% ABV is: 750 x 13 = 9.75 units of alcohol 1000 A 750ml bottle of Buckfast at 15% is: 750 x 15 = 11.25 units of alcohol 1000
A 750ml bottle of vodka at 40% is: 750 x 40 = 30 units of alcohol 1000
A pint of lager at 4% is: 568 x 4 = 2.3 units of alcohol 1000
A litre bottle of cider at 7.5% is: 1000 x 7.5 = 7.5 units of alcohol 1000 |
A 250ml glass of wine is usually around 3 units of alcohol.
A single shot of spirits is usually 1 unit of alcohol.
A 440ml can of 4% lager is 1.7 units.
A 440ml can of super lager 9% is 4 units of alcohol.
|
|
Case studies: |
|
'Tom': drinks 6 cans (500ml) of Tenants Super Lager (9%) each day.
500ml x 9% = 4.5 units, 6 x 4.5 units 1000
= 27 units on heaviest drinking day & 189 units weekly. High risk.
Tom's body would need 27 hours to process his daily intake of alcohol; this means that he is rarely alcohol free and most likely alcohol dependent. Tom should not be advised to significantly cut down on his drinking without supervision - he may be at risk of withdrawals.
|
|
'Claire': drinks a 250ml bottle of vodka (40%) in the house and 6 vodka and orange (single measure - 25ml) in the pub once a week.
250ml x 40% = 10 units, 25ml x 40% = 1 unit 1000 1000
= 16 units on heaviest drinking day & 16 units weekly. Increasing risk.
Claire is drinking over the daily guidelines of 2-3 units per day for women. If Claire finishes drinking at 1am her body will be alcohol free about 3pm the next day.
|
|
'Nick': sometimes picks up a couple of bottles (330ml) of Carlsberg (3.8%) on his way home from work. This happens about 3 times per week and he drinks 2 cans.
330ml x 3.8% = 1.25 units, 2 x 1.25 units = 2.5 units 1000
= 2.5 units on heaviest drinking day & 7.5 units weekly. Low risk - safe levels.
|
|
'Moira': drinks 8 cans (440ml) of Tennents lager (4%) and 1 litre of cider (7.5%) per day.
440ml x 4% = 1.76 units, 8 x 1.76 = 14 units. 1000
1000ml x 7.5% = 7.5 units 1000
= 21.5 units on heaviest drinking day & 150.5 units weekly. High risk.
Moira's body would need around 21 hours to process her daily alcohol intake. Moira is rarely alcohol free and at risk of alcohol dependence.
|
|
'Pete': goes out for a drink after college three times a week. Normally has 3 pints (568ml) of Stella (5%) then heads home. Stays out longer on a Friday, has 6 pints of Stella and 3 Jack Daniels (40%, large measure 35ml) and Coke.
568ml x 5% = 2.84 units 1000
35ml x 40% = 1.4 units 1000
= 21.24 units on heaviest drinking day & 38.28 units weekly. Increasing risk.
If Pete leaves the pub at midnight on a Friday night his body will be alcohol free around 8pm the next day.
|
|
'Simon': goes for 2-3 weeks without a drink. A drinking session includes 2 bottles (75cl) of Buckfast (15%) and 2 bottles (1 litre) of cider (7.5%).
750ml x 15% = 11.25 units 1000 x 7.5% = 7.5 units 1000 1000
= 37.5 units on heaviest drinking day. Simon is drinking at increasing risk levels.
His binge drinking puts him at risk of long term damage to his health, as well as short term consequences of a night out such as accidents/ blackouts.
|