Hazardous Drinking and Violent Mortality Among Males: Evidence from a Population-Based Case-Control Study

Abstract

The goal of this study was to determine the risk of homicide victimization associated with an underlying pattern of hazardous drinking. Data were from the Izhevsk Family Study (IFS), a large-scale, population-based case-control study. There were two sets of cases: all men aged 25 to 54 years living in Izhevsk during October 2003 through October 2005 who were (1) homicide victims ( n = 45) or (2) homicide victims or died of injuries of undetermined intent ( n = 156). Controls were selected at random from a population register. The exposure, an ongoing pattern of hazardous alcohol consumption, was variously defined as drinking more than 20 liters of ethanol in the prior year, consumption of non-beverage alcohols at least once per week, and a set of behavioral measures of problematic drinking. Extensive information was obtained via interviews with proxy informants living in the same household as cases and controls. Each measure of hazardous drinking was associated with increased risk of violent death, and nearly 60 percent of homicides were attributable to hazardous drinking. Results provide strong evidence of an association between an underlying pattern of hazardous drinking and vulnerability to violent death.