Local Alcohol Profiles for England: 2017 release

Public Health England have released updated data for the Local Alcohol Profiles for England (LAPE), which provides a picture of alcohol-related hospital admissions, mortality and other data across across English regions and localities.

The latest release details national level data and recent trends, albeit using a different methodology for alcohol-related mortality than the recent ONS release. Most LAPE measures remain relatively stable over recent years, though alcohol-related road traffic accidents have declined whilst mortality from chronic liver disease for men and women has risen.

Headline national data from the release includes:

• In 2015 there were an estimated 294,000 years of life lost in England up to the age of 75 (a rate of 552.3 years lost per 100,000 population). The rate of years of life lost fell by 1.3% in the latest year
• There were 17,700 alcohol-specific deaths in England between 2013 and 2015. The rate of alcohol-specific mortality is down 1% (to 11.5 deaths per 100,000 population) compared to the previous 3-year period, a second successive fall. This has been driven by a fall of 1.3% for males.
• The rate of mortality from chronic liver disease has increased by 2% compared to the previous 3-year time period (at 11.7 deaths per 100,000 population). This is the first increase since the start of the LAPE series (2006-08) and has been driven by a rise of 2.8% for females and a rise of 1.5% for males.
• The rate of alcohol-related road traffic accidents in England fell by 6.2% (to 26.0 per 1,000 road traffic accidents) for the latest time period (2013-15) compared to the earliest period in the LAPE series (2010-2012).

The data also shows the significance of income inequalities as key factor in alcohol-related health harms, with poorer areas and men significantly more likely to suffer alcohol-related deaths or diseases. Whilst this may be expected in relation to gender as men consume more, higher income groups typically drink more alcohol but experience less harms, known as the alcohol harm paradox.

The LAPE profiles are primarily designed to help local areas understand and response to alcohol-related harms at a local level. See here for PHE and NICE guidance on relevant interventions and commissioning approaches.

Alcohol-related hospital admissions data will be updated in May 2017 - see the previous national statistics for England 2016 here.