Citation

Livingston M, Matthews S, Barratt MJ, Lloyd B, Room RGW. Aust. N. Zeal. J. Public Health 2010; 34(4): 368-373.

Affiliation

Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre and School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Victoria.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Public Health Association of Australia, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1753-6405.2010.00568.x

PMID

20649776

Abstract

Objective: To examine recent trends in alcohol-related harm and risky drinking in Victoria, Australia. Methods: The study compiled eight measures of alcohol-related harm from published and unpublished sources, covering data relating to health, crime, alcohol treatment and traffic crashes for the financial years 1999/2000 to 2007/08. In addition, published estimates of short and long-term risky drinking from three-sets of surveys between 2001 and 2007 were examined. Results: Six of the eight harm indicators substantially increased, while only alcohol-related mortality and single-vehicle night-time crashes remained relatively stable. In particular, rates of emergency presentations for intoxication and alcohol-related ambulance attendances increased dramatically. Contrastingly, survey-derived estimates of the rate of risky-drinking among Victorians were stable over the time-period examined. Conclusions: Evidence across the data examined suggests significant increases in alcohol-related harm taking place during a period of relatively stable alcohol consumption levels. This disparity may be accounted for by changing drinking patterns among small, high-risk, subgroups of the population. Implications: The sharply increasing rates of alcohol-related harm among Victorians suggest that changes to alcohol policies focusing on improving public health are necessary.

Language: en