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Mortality attributable to harmful drinking in the United States, 2000
Frederick P Rivara1, Michelle M Garrison, Beth Ebel
1Department of Pediatrics, and the Child Health Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98115-8160, USA. fpr@u.washington.edu
Journal of Studies on Alcohol
|September 21, 2004
Summary
Harmful alcohol use caused an estimated 63,718 deaths in the U.S. in 2000. This highlights the urgent need for public health initiatives to prevent alcohol-related mortality.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Substance Abuse Research
Background:
- Alcohol consumption is linked to numerous causes of death.
- Recent data on the burden of mortality from harmful alcohol use in the U.S. are lacking.
- Understanding the scope of alcohol-attributable deaths is crucial for public health policy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide updated estimates of deaths attributable to harmful alcohol use in the United States.
- To quantify the burden of alcohol-related mortality by sex.
- To identify patterns of drinking associated with mortality.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the etiologic-fraction method to assess alcohol-related mortality.
- Employed U.S. mortality data from the year 2000.
- Defined harmful drinking based on medium/high regular or heavy episodic alcohol consumption patterns, using data from national surveys.
Main Results:
- An estimated 63,718 deaths in the U.S. in 2000 were attributed to harmful drinking.
- Men accounted for a larger proportion of these deaths (45,988) compared to women (17,730).
- Harmful drinking represented 4% of all male deaths and 1.5% of all female deaths, with varying drinking patterns contributing differently by sex.
Conclusions:
- Harmful alcohol use is a significant contributor to mortality in the United States.
- Preventing alcohol-attributable deaths should be a key public health priority.
- Targeted interventions addressing different patterns of harmful drinking are necessary.