Alcohol outlet density and alcohol related hospital admissions in England: a national small-area level ecological study



Maheswaran, Ravi, Green, Mark A ORCID: 0000-0002-0942-6628, Strong, Mark, Brindley, Paul, Angus, Colin and Holmes, John
(2018) Alcohol outlet density and alcohol related hospital admissions in England: a national small-area level ecological study. ADDICTION, 113 (11). pp. 2051-2059.

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Abstract

<h4>Background and aims</h4>Excessive alcohol consumption has a substantial impact on public health services. A key element determining alcohol availability is alcohol outlet density. This study investigated the relationship between on-trade and off-trade outlets and hospital admission rates in local neighbourhoods.<h4>Design</h4>National small-area level ecological study.<h4>Setting and participants</h4>All 32 482 lower layer super output census areas (LSOAs) in England (42 227 108 million people aged 15+ years). Densities for six outlet categories (outlets within a 1-km radius of residential postcode centroids, averaged for all postcodes within each LSOA) were calculated.<h4>Measurements</h4>Main outcome measures were admissions due to acute or chronic conditions wholly or partially attributable to alcohol consumption from 2002/03 to 2013/14.<h4>Findings</h4>There were 1 007 137 admissions wholly, and 2 153 874 admissions partially, attributable to alcohol over 12 years. After adjustment for confounding, higher densities of on-trade outlets (pubs, bars and nightclubs; restaurants licensed to sell alcohol; other on-trade outlets) and convenience stores were associated with higher admission rate ratios for acute and chronic wholly attributable conditions. For acute wholly attributable conditions, admission rate ratios were 13% (95% confidence interval = 11-15%), 9% (7-10%), 12% (10-14%) and 10% (9-12%) higher, respectively, in the highest relative to the lowest density categories by quartile. For chronic wholly attributable conditions, rate ratios were 22% (21-24%), 9% (7-11%), 19% (17-21%) and 7% (6-9%) higher, respectively. Supermarket density was associated with modestly higher acute and chronic admissions but other off-trade outlet density was associated only with higher admissions for chronic wholly attributable conditions. For partially attributable conditions, there were no strong patterns of association with outlet densities.<h4>Conclusions</h4>In England, higher densities of several categories of alcohol outlets appear to be associated with higher hospital admission rates for conditions wholly attributable to alcohol consumption.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Admissions, alcohol, density, England, hospital, outlets
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 23 Aug 2018 09:54
Last Modified: 19 Jan 2023 01:33
DOI: 10.1111/add.14285
Open Access URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14285
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3021908