[Geographic variability of alcohol-related mortality in Italy in the period 1980-1990]

From the original records of the Italian Central Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) alcohol-related deaths in Italy during the 1980-1990 period were estimated applying alcohol-attributable fractions (AAFs), derived from the national and international literature, to a list of alcohol-related diagnoses. Age-adjusted mortality rates direct method) were computed for each year sex and geographic region. Alcohol-related years of potential life lost (YPLL) to age 70 were estimated only for 1990. In 1990 overall alcohol-related deaths were 18,033 (males: 12,937; females: 5,096), accounting for 3.3% of all deaths in Italy (males: 4.6%: females 2.0%. Over 200,000 YPLL (males: 162,318; females 38,367) to age 70 were attributable to alcohol-related causes each death contributing on average with 11.1 YPLL (males: 12.5; females: 7.5). Among individual causes of death, chronic disease (malignant neoplasms and liver diseases) represent 65% of ARM, while intentional and unintentional injuries account for almost 35% of ARM According to the decreasing temporal trend of alcohol intake in Italy, during the 1980-1990 period, ARM decreased by 17% in both sexes (from 51.3 x 100,000 to 42.4 in males from 18.1 to 15.2 in females). Geographic variability of ARM in Italy suggests that in Central regions some protection factors concomitant with alcohol and hepatitis viruses exposure (diet, type of alcoholic beverage, pattern of alcohol make genetic factors) could account for the reduced risk of alcohol-induced biologic damage.