This study uses data from the Wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), the 3-year follow-up of a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. The 2001–2002 Wave 1 sample contained 43,093 respondents 18 and older living in households and noninstitutional group quarters (response rate = 81.0%). At the 2004–2005 Wave 2 follow-up, 34,653 of the original respondents were reinterviewed (86.7% of those eligible for reinterview, cumulative response rate = 70.2%). Detailed information on the sample design and weighting is reported elsewhere (Grant et al., 2003a, 2007a, 2009) Informed consent was obtained after potential respondents were informed in writing about the nature of the survey, uses of the survey data, voluntary nature of their participation and confidentiality of identifiable survey information. The research protocol received full ethical review and approval. In this analysis, prevalence estimates of past-year DSM-IV and DSM-5 AUD were based on the full Wave 2 sample (n=34,653). Clinical profiles of DSM-IV and DSM-5 AUD were based on individuals who met the criteria for these disorders in the year immediately preceding the Wave 2 follow-up interval (n=108 to 1,734, see Analysis for details).
