Implications For Alcohol Policy Research Articles

The Finnish Drinking Habits Survey: Implications for alcohol policy and prevention.

Aims/materials:This reflection piece reviews some of the key results and conclusions from the book Näin Suomi juo (This is how Finns drink, 2018), based on the Finnish Drinking Habits Survey. Our aim was to go through the results taking the perspective of prevention workers and policymakers: how could they benefit from the scientific findings when tackling alcohol-related harm?Results/reflections:The reflections displayed in this article provide some useful arguments and justifications for population-level alcohol policy in the controversial alcohol policy debate. Harms do not only arise among the heaviest drinkers, and efficient methods to prevent harm may be found among the prevention efforts that apply to populations rather than only to the heaviest drinkers. The article also illustrates how the results from a population survey can be used in order to identify specific challenges and solutions for alcohol prevention in a given population. The results help in identifying the population groups and situations with an elevated risk of alcohol-related harm and in characterising the drinking patterns and social situations in which drinking takes place in these vulnerable parts of the population.Conclusions:The review illustrates that a many-sided understanding of alcohol consumption and the related harm, based on survey results, is more far-reaching in terms of prevention and policy than a knowledge base built solely on register data on the development of alcohol consumption and harm. For example, the respondents’ drinking patterns are linked not only to their attitudes and risk perceptions but also to what people consider to be appropriate means to reduce alcohol use and the related harm in terms of alcohol policy, informal social control and people’s life management.

Is burden of disease differentially linked to spirits? A systematic scoping review and implications for alcohol policy.

Most epidemiological research on alcohol as a risk factor is based on the assumption that outcomes are linked to pattern and level of alcohol exposure, where different beverages are converted into grams of ethanol. This review examines this basic assumption, that alcohol has the same impact, independent of beverage type. We conducted a systematic search on comparative research of beverage-specific alcohol exposure and consequences. Research was divided by methodology (survey, case-control, cohort, time-series analyses, interventional research). Overall, many studies showed higher risks for spirits compared to beer or wine; however, most research was not controlled adequately for confounders such as patterns of drinking. While there is no conclusive evidence for spirits being associated with more harm, given the same pattern and level of alcohol exposure, some evidence supports for certain outcomes such as injuries and poisonings, a potential excess risk with spirits consumption due to rapid ethanol intake and intoxication. Accordingly, encouraging people to opt for beverages with lower alcohol content via taxation strategies has the potential to reduce alcohol-attributable harm. This does not necessarily involve switching beverage type, but also can achieved within the same beverage category, by shifting from higher to lower concentration beverages.

Commentary: Girls, women, and alcohol: Implications for alcohol policy

Johnston, A. (2015). Commentary: Girls, women, and alcohol: Implications for alcohol policy. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 4(2), 101-102. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v4i2.212Alcohol abuse is rising in much of the developed world, and in many countries, female drinkers are responsible for this growth. This is a global issue: the richer the country, the fewer abstainers and the smaller the gap between male and female behaviour. The new reality: while male consumption is constant or declining, female consumption is on the upswing.

Transgressive drinking practices and the subversion of proscriptive alcohol policy messages

This research makes a new contribution to alcohol policy practice and theory by demonstrating that transgression of officially sanctioned norms and values is a key component of the sub- and counter cultural drinking practices of some groups of young consumers. Therefore, policy messages that proscribe these drinking practices with moral force are likely to be subverted and rendered counter-productive. The qualitative analysis draws on critical geography and literary theories of the carnivalesque to delineate three categories of transgression: transgressions of space and place, transgressions of the body, and transgressions of the social order. Implications for alcohol policy are discussed.

Trends in European liver death rates: implications for alcohol policy

Changing alcohol consumption has led to a three- to fivefold increase in liver deaths in the UK and Finland, and a three- to fivefold decrease in France and Italy. Increasing consumption from a low baseline has been driven by fiscal, marketing and commercial factors--some of which have occurred as a result of countries joining the EU. In contrast consumption has fallen from previously very high levels as a result of shifting social and cultural factors; a move from rural to urban lifestyles and increased health consciousness. The marketing drive in these countries has had to shift from a model based on quantity to one based on quality, which means that health gains have occurred alongside a steady improvement in the overall value of the wine industry. Fiscal incentives--minimum pricing, restricting cross border trade and more volumetric taxation could aid this shift. A healthier population and a healthy drinks industry are not incompatible.

Alcohol and older people

This article presents a review of the literature on alcohol and older people, noting that this subject has received very little research attention. In this short review, we offer a synopsis of the physical changes and health problems caused by alcohol use among older people. We then present a typology of drinking in later life, before discussing the findings and shortcomings of recent research knowledge. Reference is also made to the implications for alcohol policy, and solutions around training, health promotion and education are discussed.

Article Commentary: Border Trade and Private Import in Nordic Countries: Implications for Alcohol Policy

Article Commentary: Border Trade and Private Import in Nordic Countries: Implications for Alcohol Policy

Alcohol consumption and burden of disease in the Americas: implications for alcohol policy

To describe patterns of alcohol consumption in the Americas, to estimate the burden of disease attributable to alcohol in the year 2000, and to suggest implications for policies to reduce alcohol-related disease burden. Two dimensions of alcohol exposure were included in this secondary data analysis: average volume of alcohol consumption and patterns of drinking. There were two main outcome measures: mortality (number of deaths) and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost (number of years of life lost due to premature mortality and disability). Separate estimates were obtained for different sexes, age groups and WHO regions. Despite regional variations, alcohol consumption in the Americas averaged more than 50% higher than worldwide consumption. Patterns of irregular heavy drinking prevailed. Alcohol consumption caused a considerable disease burden: 4.8% of all the deaths and 9.7% of all DALYs lost in the year 2000 were attributable to drinking, with most of the burden occurring outside North America. Intentional and unintentional injuries accounted for 59.8% of all alcohol-related deaths and 38.4% of the alcohol-related disease burden. Of all risk factors compared here, alcohol accounted for the greatest proportion of risk, followed by smoking. Interventions should be implemented to reduce the high burden of alcohol-related disease in the Americas. Given the epidemiological structure of this burden, injury prevention including, but not restricted to, prevention of traffic injuries, as well as appropriate treatment options, should play an important role in comprehensive plans to reduce the alcohol-related public health burden.