A study by ISD Scotland has calculated alcohol population attributable fractions for Scotland, using the best possible estimates based on the current evidence available in the epidemiological literature and specific estimates of population drinking in Scotland. These were applied to mortality and morbidity data to estimate more fully the burden of alcohol attributable harm in Scotland. The report Alcohol attributable mortality and morbidity: alcohol population attributable fractions for Scotland includes these main findings:
- 1 in 20 (2,882) deaths in Scotland in 2003 were estimated to be attributable to alcohol, twice as many as previously reported
- Men were more likely to die an alcohol attributable death - 6.8% of all male deaths were estimated to be alcohol attributable compared to 3.3% for women
- Deaths were proportionately higher in younger age groups with 1 in 4 of men and 1 in 5 of women aged 35-44 dying an alcohol attributable death
- Over a thousand deaths were in people under the age of 55 (1080). Younger people were more likely to die from an acute consequence (such as injury) whereas older people were more likely to die from a chronic condition. However, 1 in 10 of all deaths in those aged 35-44 were due to alcoholic liver disease.
- Alcohol problems also cause a considerable burden to the health care system, accounting for over 1 in 20 of all patient-specific (hospital) discharges in 2003. This is 50% higher than routine statistics which are based on wholly attributable conditions
- Men were more likely to have an alcohol attributable hospital discharge than women, 1 in 10 of all male discharges in Scotland were estimated to be alcohol attributable compared to 1 in 20 for women
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