A survey has found that in general, the Tri-State drinks alcohol about on par with the rest of the nation.According to information released by Interact for Health, just over half of adults in Greater Cincinnati (52 percent) report drinking at least one alcoholic drink in the month prior to the 2013 Greater Cincinnati Community Health Status Survey (CHSS), slightly lower than the national rate of 55 percent.Two in 10 (20 percent) report binge drinking, which is slightly higher than the national average of 17 percent."Many factors played a role in drinking behavior," said Ann Barnum, Senior Program Officer, Healthy Choices about Substance Use, Interact for Health, in a news release. "Results of the CHSS show that as education increases, the percentage of adults in Greater Cincinnati who report drinking in the last 30 days also increases. As age increases, however, the percentage of adults who report drinking in the last month decreases."The survey found six in 10 men (62 percent) drink, compared to 4 in 10 women (43 percent). Adults above 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) (62 percent) are more likely to drink than those between 100 percent and 200 percent FPL (49 percent) and those at or below 100 percent FPL (41 percent)."While drinking in moderation may not affect your health," Barnum said, "studies show that heavy drinking over time is associated with a range of medical problems including liver, kidney and pancreas disease; cancers; ulcers and digestive problems; premature aging; memory and cognitive problems; and birth defects."Just under 3 in 10 adults (28 percent) in the rural Kentucky counties had a drink in the month prior to the CHSS, the lowest reported rate of any geography in the region. Two of the counties in this geography, Owen and Pendleton, have strict limits on the sale of alcohol, which may account for the lower rates of drinking.Binge drinking is defined as having 5 or more drinks on one occasion for men and 4 or more drinks for women. Two in 10 Greater Cincinnati adults (20 percent) report binge drinking in the 30 days prior to the CHSS, compared to 17 percent of adults in the nation.The binge drinking rate has remained relatively stable for both the region and the nation.Some adults in our region are more likely to report binge drinking in the last month, including adults who:are uninsured (33 percent)are age 18-29 (33 percent)are male (29 percent)have less than a high school diploma (26 percent).When the survey asked "How harmful do you think it is for a person to consume five or more drinks of alcohol once or twice per week?" 7 in 10 Greater Cincinnati adults (73 percent) feel it is very or somewhat harmful. Women (81 percent) are more likely to view drinking five or more drinks to be harmful than men (65 percent). African-American residents (80 percent) are more likely to view it as harmful than residents of other racial groups (White, 72 percent; Other, 72 percent), the survey found.Heavy drinking is defined by the Center for Disease Control as having more than an average of one drink per day for a woman and two drinks per day for a man. About 6 percent of adults in Greater Cincinnati report heavy drinking in the last month. The national rate in 2012, the most recent year of data, was also 6 percent.