Patterns of alcohol consumption in Australia, 1998 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Making sense of alcohol consumption data in Australia
The Medical Journal of Australia, 2015
stimating the consumption of alcohol by individuals and societies is notoriously difficult, especially as it frequently relies on self-reported data. Much depends on the quality of the datagathering instrument, the questions asked, and the veracity of the survey sample.
Regional variation in alcohol consumption in the Northern Territory
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 2000
University of Technology represents a timely and crucial contribution to the debate about substance misuse directions for Indigenous Australians, services and governments. The NDRI has had a long and positive relationship with Indigenous people in regards to issues surrounding substance use. This book highlights the importance of linking national research centres such as NDRI and community-controlled Indigenous organisations across rural, remote and urban areas of Australia. Without commitments from centres such as NDRI, there would be a paucity of research into the structural determinants and positive outcomes in relation to Indigenous substance use. This book brings together a range of findings: from liquor licensing restrictions to what works. Recently NDRI also completed a study mapping Indigenous drug and alcohol projects across Australia in 1999-2000. This was the first attempt to give a view as to what is happening across the country.
Australian Alcohol Policy 2001-2013 and implications for public health
Background: Despite a complex and multi-faceted alcohol policy environment in Australia, there are few comprehensive reviews of national and state alcohol policies that assess their effectiveness and research support. In mapping the Australian alcohol policy domain and evaluating policy interventions in each of the core policy areas, this article provides a useful resource for researchers. The implications for protecting public health emanating from this mapping and evaluation of alcohol policy are also discussed. Methods: This review considered data from: published primary research; alcohol legislation, strategies and alcohol-related press releases for all levels and jurisdictions of Australian government; international publications by prominent non-governmental organisations; and relevant grey literature. These were organised and evaluated using the established framework offered by Thomas Babor and colleagues. Results: Findings indicated great variability in alcohol initiatives across Australia, many of which do not reflect what is currently considered to be evidence-based best practice. Conclusions: Research showing increasing alcohol-related harms despite steady levels of consumption suggests a need to pursue alcohol policy initiatives that are supported by evidence of harm-reduction. Future initiatives should aim to increase existing alcohol controls in line with suggested best practice in order to protect public health in Australia.
Estimated alcohol-caused deaths in Australia, 1990-97
Drug and Alcohol Review, 2002
The purpose of the study was to provide updated estimates of alcohol-caused mortality rates in Australia between 1990 and 1997, making adjustments for changes in the prevalence of high-risk alcohol use estimated on the basis of per capita alcohol consumption (PCAC). Deaths wholly and partially attributable to high-risk alcohol consumption were extracted from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Mortality Datafile (1990± 1997) and multiplied by specific aetiological fractions, which in turn were adjusted by changes in the prevalence of high-risk alcohol use estimated on the basis of annual changes in PCAC. The yearly trends in age-standardized rates of estimated alcohol-caused deaths were compared with those using (i) aetiological fractions unadjusted for changes in PCAC, and (ii) wholly alcohol-caused conditions only (thus requiring no application of aetiological fractions). The age-standardized rates of all alcohol-caused deaths among males aged 15 + years declined from
2012
Aims and objectives The aim of this project was to examine and report on the impact of various alcohol control measures on levels of alcohol consumption and related harm in Central Australia for the period 2000-2010. Specific objectives were to: • describe trends in alcohol consumption in Central Australia; • describe trends in key indicators of alcohol-related harm; • describe key interventions aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm; • identify any changes in consumption and indicators of harm and to test whether, or to what extent, these can be attributed to particular interventions or combinations of them; and, • report on the implications for alcohol policy and strategies to reduce alcoholrelated harm. Methods The project was conducted in three overlapping stages using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Data on wholesale sales of alcoholic beverages were converted to litres of pure alcohol and were used as a proxy measure of consumption. Alcohol-related hospital separations, emergency department presentations and police incident data were used as indicators of harm. The geographic area of study was the Central Northern Territory Statistical SubDivision with 'Greater Darwin' as a control region. Two methods were used to calculate an appropriate population denominator for the calculation of rates: Estimated Residential Population (ERP) aged ≥15 years plus data on tourist numbers from various sources; and Adjusted Enumerated Population (AEP) based on adjustments to, and extrapolations from, the Enumerated Populations of persons aged ≥15 years at the 1996, 2001 and 2006 Censuses. The differences between these were small and for convenience, the latter was used. xi Further analyses were conducted using categorisations of alcohol-attributable hospital separations by commonly associated drinking pattern (i.e. acute conditions largely associated with short term drinking to intoxication and chronic, conditions which are typically associated with long term exposure) as well as level of alcoholattributable aetiologic fraction (high/medium/low/wholly). After introduction of the LSP, there was no evidence of significant change in wholly alcohol-attributable conditions (e.g. alcohol abuse, alcoholic gastritis, alcoholic psychosis, alcoholic liver cirrhosis). However, observed trends were significantly lower than forecast trends in: acute cases, particularly assaults; and conditions had 'medium' and 'low' level alcohol-attributable aetiologic fractions. A disparate proportion of the burden of separations for alcohol-attributable conditions recorded by the Alice Springs Hospital occurred among the Indigenous population and much of this was underpinned by hospitalisation for assault. Emergency Department presentations Data for alcohol-attributable Emergency Department presentations were restricted to the period from Q3 2003 onwards and did not contain sufficient information to accurately assess many acute conditions (including assault, road crashes, falls etc.). Analyses were therefore restricted primarily to presentations for chronic diseases. This was a significant limitation, as it is acute rather than chronic conditions that are most likely to be responsive to alcohol restrictions in the time-frames under consideration. Over the study period, Emergency Department presentations for alcohol-attributable chronic conditions doubled from 3.5 to 7.0 per 1000 persons. Although there was some negative impact upon this due to restrictions on the availability of takeaways >2 litres, the data indicate that this indicator continued to rise regardless of the restrictions and that after the introduction of the LSP the rate of increase exceed that compared to that expected had the pre-LSP trend continued. However, this rise is unlikely to be a function of the restrictions. A better indicator of the impact of restrictions than ED presentations for chronic conditions was Alice Springs Hospital ED presentations coded at triage as assault. In contrast to chronic conditions, and similar to alcohol-attributable hospital separations, after the introduction of the LSP, the observed rate of presentations per 1000 persons identified at triage as assault was significantly lower than that predicted on the basis of prior trends-especially from Q1 2008 onwards. Crime and Public Order Use of homicide data to measure the impact of restrictions in Alice Springs was precluded because the number was too low and variability between intervals over time was too high to subject them to statistical analyses. Analyses of other Police incident data showed that, over the study period, there were extreme fluctuations in protective custody and drink driving incidents, and there had been statistically significant increases in domestic violence and protective custody incidents. However, we were advised by officers from the NT Police that the frequency of these incidents was particularly susceptible to changes in policing policy and the allocation of resources The greatest statistically discernible impact of this reduction in consumption was a reduction in the rates of assaults-as evident in hospital separation and Emergency Department triage presentation data-and reductions in hospital separations for alcohol-attributable conditions. While the evidence presented in this study shows that price-related alcohol restrictions have had a significant effect in reducing alcohol consumption, it also shows that price is not the only variable impacting upon levels of consumption and related-harm. That levels of consumption in Central Australia remain over 30 per cent higher than the national average, that some indicators of harm continued to rise (albeit at reduced rates), and that rates of some indicators are considerably greater xiii among Indigenous than non-Indigenous residents of Central Australia indicates that significant demand factors are also driving the level of consumption. This evidence indicates that while alcohol control measures are an effective means of reducing consumption and related harm-as endorsed by Australian Governments under the National Drug Strategy-they need to be part of a comprehensive strategy that also aims to reduce harm and demand. In the latter regard, it is important that demand reduction strategies not be conceived too narrowly. As well as focusing on interventions specifically targeting alcohol use, such as prevention and health promotion, demand reduction strategies need also to focus on broad-based interventions which address the underlying social determinants of health and alcohol and other drug use, including early childhood development, education and employment programs.