Citation

Moore SC, Fasihul Alam M, Heikkinen M, Hood K, Huang C, Moore L, Murphy S, Playle R, Shepherd J, Shovelton C, Sivarajasingam V, Williams A. Addiction 2017; 112(11): 1898-1906.

Affiliation

DECIPHer, Cardiff School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, 1-3 Museum Place, Cardiff, CF10 3BD.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/add.13878

PMID

28543914

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Premises licensed for the sale and consumption of alcohol can contribute to levels of assault-related injury through poor operational practices that, if addressed, could reduce violence. We tested the real-world effectiveness of an intervention designed to change premises operation, whether any intervention effect changed over time, the effect of intervention dose and cost effectiveness of the intervention.

DESIGN: A parallel randomised controlled trial with the unit of allocation and outcomes measured at the level of individual premises. SETTING: All premises (public houses, night clubs, or hotels with a public bar) in Wales, UK. PARTICIPANTS: A randomly selected subsample (N = 600) of eligible premises (that had one or more violent incidents recorded in police recorded crime data; N = 837) were randomised into control and intervention groups. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: Intervention premises were audited by Environmental Health Practitioners who identified risks for violence and provided feedback by varying dose (informal, through written advice, follow-up visits) on how risks could be addressed. Control premises received usual practice. MEASUREMENTS: Police data were used to derive a binary variable describing whether, on each day premises were open, one or more incidents were evident over a 455 day period following randomisation.

FINDINGS: Due to premises being unavailable at the time of intervention delivery 208 received the intervention and 245 were subject to usual practice in an intention to treat analysis. The intervention was associated with an increase in violence compared to normal practice (HR = 1.34, 95% CI 1.20 to 1.51). Exploratory analyses suggested that reduced violence was associated with greater intervention dose (follow-up visits).

CONCLUSION: An Environmental Health Practitioner led intervention in premises licensed for the sale and on-site consumption of alcohol resulted in an increase in police recorded violence.

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Language: en