Minimum alcohol prices and outlet densities in British Columbia, Canada: Estimated impacts on alcohol-attributable hospital admissions

Objectives: We investigated whether periodic increases in minimum alcohol prices were associated with reduced alcohol-attributable hospital admissions in British Columbia. Methods: The longitudinal panel study (2002–2009) incorporated minimum alcohol prices, density of alcohol outlets, and age- and...

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Main Authors: Stockwell, Tim, Zhao, J., Martin, G., Macdonald, S., Vallance, K., Treno, A., Ponicki, W., Tu, A., Buxton, J.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31297
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author Stockwell, Tim
Zhao, J.
Martin, G.
Macdonald, S.
Vallance, K.
Treno, A.
Ponicki, W.
Tu, A.
Buxton, J.
author_facet Stockwell, Tim
Zhao, J.
Martin, G.
Macdonald, S.
Vallance, K.
Treno, A.
Ponicki, W.
Tu, A.
Buxton, J.
author_sort Stockwell, Tim
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Objectives: We investigated whether periodic increases in minimum alcohol prices were associated with reduced alcohol-attributable hospital admissions in British Columbia. Methods: The longitudinal panel study (2002–2009) incorporated minimum alcohol prices, density of alcohol outlets, and age- and gender-standardized rates of acute, chronic, and 100% alcohol-attributable admissions. We applied mixed-method regression models to data from 89 geographic areas of British Columbia across 32 time periods, adjusting for spatial and temporal autocorrelation, moving average effects, season, and a range of economic and social variables. Results: A 10% increase in the average minimum price of all alcoholic beverages was associated with an 8.95% decrease in acute alcohol-attributable admissions and a 9.22% reduction in chronic alcohol-attributable admissions 2 years later. A Can$ 0.10 increase in average minimum price would prevent 166 acute admissions in the 1st year and 275 chronic admissions 2 years later. We also estimated significant, though smaller, adverse impacts of increased private liquor store density on hospital admission rates for all types of alcohol-attributable admissions. Conclusions: Significant health benefits were observed when minimum alcohol prices in British Columbia were increased. By contrast, adverse health outcomes were associated with an expansion of private liquor stores.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-312972018-03-29T09:08:49Z Minimum alcohol prices and outlet densities in British Columbia, Canada: Estimated impacts on alcohol-attributable hospital admissions Stockwell, Tim Zhao, J. Martin, G. Macdonald, S. Vallance, K. Treno, A. Ponicki, W. Tu, A. Buxton, J. Objectives: We investigated whether periodic increases in minimum alcohol prices were associated with reduced alcohol-attributable hospital admissions in British Columbia. Methods: The longitudinal panel study (2002–2009) incorporated minimum alcohol prices, density of alcohol outlets, and age- and gender-standardized rates of acute, chronic, and 100% alcohol-attributable admissions. We applied mixed-method regression models to data from 89 geographic areas of British Columbia across 32 time periods, adjusting for spatial and temporal autocorrelation, moving average effects, season, and a range of economic and social variables. Results: A 10% increase in the average minimum price of all alcoholic beverages was associated with an 8.95% decrease in acute alcohol-attributable admissions and a 9.22% reduction in chronic alcohol-attributable admissions 2 years later. A Can$ 0.10 increase in average minimum price would prevent 166 acute admissions in the 1st year and 275 chronic admissions 2 years later. We also estimated significant, though smaller, adverse impacts of increased private liquor store density on hospital admission rates for all types of alcohol-attributable admissions. Conclusions: Significant health benefits were observed when minimum alcohol prices in British Columbia were increased. By contrast, adverse health outcomes were associated with an expansion of private liquor stores. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31297 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301289 restricted
spellingShingle Stockwell, Tim
Zhao, J.
Martin, G.
Macdonald, S.
Vallance, K.
Treno, A.
Ponicki, W.
Tu, A.
Buxton, J.
Minimum alcohol prices and outlet densities in British Columbia, Canada: Estimated impacts on alcohol-attributable hospital admissions
title Minimum alcohol prices and outlet densities in British Columbia, Canada: Estimated impacts on alcohol-attributable hospital admissions
title_full Minimum alcohol prices and outlet densities in British Columbia, Canada: Estimated impacts on alcohol-attributable hospital admissions
title_fullStr Minimum alcohol prices and outlet densities in British Columbia, Canada: Estimated impacts on alcohol-attributable hospital admissions
title_full_unstemmed Minimum alcohol prices and outlet densities in British Columbia, Canada: Estimated impacts on alcohol-attributable hospital admissions
title_short Minimum alcohol prices and outlet densities in British Columbia, Canada: Estimated impacts on alcohol-attributable hospital admissions
title_sort minimum alcohol prices and outlet densities in british columbia, canada: estimated impacts on alcohol-attributable hospital admissions
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31297