OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study, carried out on a general sample in France in 2013, was to measure the burden of alcohol consumption on the entourage (family members and friends) of people with alcohol problems and to identify the consequences of excessive alcohol consumption on the caregivers. METHODS: The ENTOURAGE survey was conducted among individuals from KANTAR HEALTH’s panel. A self-administered questionnaire was sent to a representative sample of 10,000 adults (aged 18+) based on the quota method. The level of burden was assessed using the Zarit Burden Scale (ZBI) and the level of alcohol consumption using the AUDIT-C. RESULTS: Of the 7,813 individuals who filled out their questionnaires, 13% (n=1,018) stated that a member of their entourage has a problem with alcohol. Of this 13%, the alcohol consumption level was ‘not at risk’ in 2% (n=18), ‘excessive’ in 39% (n=406) and 52% (n=533) were ‘alcohol-dependent’ according to AUDIT-C scores; 7% did not specify the quantity of alcohol consumed. 37.0% of these 1,018 respondents rated burden as ‘minimal’, 40.7% as ‘mild’, 18.3% as ‘moderate’ and 3.9% considered it as ‘severe’. The average score of the ZBI was 28.5 (SE=16.0). Burden felt by the entourage was positively correlated with the physical and affective proximity between the interviewee and the drinker, particularly when the interviewee lives with him, and with the presence of social, behavioral and medical consequences of alcohol consumption (on average the number of medical comorbidities was 2.1 for ‘severe’ burdens vs 1.4 for ‘minimal’ burdens, p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Excessive drinking has deleterious effects on drinkers and his entourage. Our results demand greater recognition of caregivers' burden in the management of patients with alcohol dependence and further support the need for improving alcohol dependence management and prevention of its development to reduce the global burden of alcoholism.