Gmel et al. [1] approach a concept of binge drinking from a technical perspective. They indicate that risky single occasion drinking (RSOD) or binge drinking measures may include or hide heavy volume drinking, which is very likely to overestimate the association between RSOD and chronic complications. In other words, they claim rightly that a certain proportion of those classified as bingers are also chronic high-volume drinkers. The latter
is often not considered in numerous studies showing the detrimental effects of binge or risky single-occasion drinking. While discussing these major questions, the authors show numerous examples of conceptual confusion with regard to definition of a drink and various cut-off levels applied in different countries and/or in different studies, which is very likely to produce miscommunication within a research world and between research and the ‘real’ world.> > > > Read More
