Citation

Richardson EA, Hill SE, Mitchell R, Pearce J, Shortt NK. Health Place 2015; 33: 172-180.

Affiliation

Centre for Research on Environment, Society and Health (CRESH), School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, UK. Electronic address: Niamh.Shortt@ed.ac.uk.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.healthplace.2015.02.014

PMID

25840352

Abstract

Alcohol consumption may be influenced by the local alcohol retailing environment. This study is the first to examine neighbourhood alcohol outlet availability (on- and off-sales outlets) and alcohol-related health outcomes in Scotland. Alcohol-related hospitalisations and deaths were significantly higher in neighbourhoods with higher outlet densities, and off-sales outlets were more important than on-sales outlets. The relationships held for most age groups, including those under the legal minimum drinking age, although were not significant for the youngest legal drinkers (18-25 years). Alcohol-related deaths and hospitalisations were higher in more income-deprived neighbourhoods, and the gradient in deaths (but not hospitalisations) was marginally larger in neighbourhoods with higher off-sales outlet densities. Efforts to reduce alcohol-related harm should consider the potentially important role of the alcohol retail environment.

Language: en