TY - JOUR
T1 - Alcohol Policy Scores and Alcohol-Attributable Homicide Rates in 150 Countries
AU - Trangenstein, Pamela J.
AU - Peddireddy, Snigdha R.
AU - Cook, Won K.
AU - Rossheim, Matthew E.
AU - Monteiro, Maristela G.
AU - Jernigan, David H.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to sincerely thank Dr. Kevin D. Shield for providing his estimates of alcohol-attributable homicides for comparison with Global Burden of Disease data. The authors would also like to thank the staff of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO for the use of the Global Survey on Alcohol and Health data. PJT, WC, and DHJ conceptualized the study, and PJT and SP conducted the analyses with guidance from MGM, MER, WC, and DHJ. PJT and SP wrote the manuscript, and all authors read the final draft and provided substantive comments. A previous version of this analysis was presented at the 2020 Global Alcohol Policy Conference (PJT) and American Public Health Association Annual Meeting (SP). No financial disclosures were reported by the authors of this paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Journal of Preventive Medicine
PY - 2021/9
Y1 - 2021/9
N2 - Introduction: More comprehensive state-level alcohol policy environments are associated with lower alcohol-attributable homicide rates in the U.S., but few studies have explored this internationally. This study tests whether 3 national-level alcohol policy scores are associated with alcohol-attributable homicide rates. Methods: Data were from the 2016 WHO Global Survey on Alcohol and Health and the 2017 Global Burden of Disease Study (N=150 countries). In 2020, the authors calculated domain-specific alcohol policy scores for physical availability, marketing, and pricing policies. Higher scores represented more comprehensive/restrictive alcohol policy environments. Negative binomial regressions with Benjamini–Simes–Hochberg multiple testing correction measured the associations between policies and alcohol-attributable homicide rates. Authors stratified countries by World Bank income group to determine whether the associations differed among low- and middle-income countries. Results: A 10% increase in the alcohol policy score for pricing was associated with an 18% lower alcohol-attributable homicide rate among all the countries (incidence rate ratio=0.82, adjusted p-value or q<0.001) and with a 14% (incidence rate ratio=0.86, q=0.01) decrease among 107 low- and middle-income countries. More controls on days and times of retail sales (incidence rate ratio=0.96, q=0.01) and affordability of alcohol (incidence rate ratio=0.95, q=0.04) as well as adjusting excise taxes for inflation (incidence rate ratio=0.96, q<0.01) were associated with a 4%–5% lower alcohol-attributable homicide rate in the full sample. Conclusions: Countries with policies that reduce alcohol's affordability or days/hours of sales tend to have fewer alcohol-attributable homicides, regardless of their income level. Alcohol-attributable homicide rates are highest in low- and middle-income countries; policies that raise alcohol-relative prices may hold promise for curbing these harms.
AB - Introduction: More comprehensive state-level alcohol policy environments are associated with lower alcohol-attributable homicide rates in the U.S., but few studies have explored this internationally. This study tests whether 3 national-level alcohol policy scores are associated with alcohol-attributable homicide rates. Methods: Data were from the 2016 WHO Global Survey on Alcohol and Health and the 2017 Global Burden of Disease Study (N=150 countries). In 2020, the authors calculated domain-specific alcohol policy scores for physical availability, marketing, and pricing policies. Higher scores represented more comprehensive/restrictive alcohol policy environments. Negative binomial regressions with Benjamini–Simes–Hochberg multiple testing correction measured the associations between policies and alcohol-attributable homicide rates. Authors stratified countries by World Bank income group to determine whether the associations differed among low- and middle-income countries. Results: A 10% increase in the alcohol policy score for pricing was associated with an 18% lower alcohol-attributable homicide rate among all the countries (incidence rate ratio=0.82, adjusted p-value or q<0.001) and with a 14% (incidence rate ratio=0.86, q=0.01) decrease among 107 low- and middle-income countries. More controls on days and times of retail sales (incidence rate ratio=0.96, q=0.01) and affordability of alcohol (incidence rate ratio=0.95, q=0.04) as well as adjusting excise taxes for inflation (incidence rate ratio=0.96, q<0.01) were associated with a 4%–5% lower alcohol-attributable homicide rate in the full sample. Conclusions: Countries with policies that reduce alcohol's affordability or days/hours of sales tend to have fewer alcohol-attributable homicides, regardless of their income level. Alcohol-attributable homicide rates are highest in low- and middle-income countries; policies that raise alcohol-relative prices may hold promise for curbing these harms.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109097835&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.amepre.2021.03.020
DO - 10.1016/j.amepre.2021.03.020
M3 - Article
C2 - 34229927
AN - SCOPUS:85109097835
SN - 0749-3797
VL - 61
SP - 311
EP - 319
JO - American Journal of Preventive Medicine
JF - American Journal of Preventive Medicine
IS - 3
ER -