Statistics on Alcohol England 2018 & latest OPN drinking figures

The annual Statistics on Alcohol for England 2018 has been released, detailing national data for key alcohol-related indicators and health harms.

Mainly bringing together recent alcohol data releases, the overall trends remain suggesting stabilisation of overall consumption and harm measures such as alcohol-related hospital admissions. As before though, significant variations exists between age groups, gender, regions, income and other factors. The measures used are also important as the 'broad' measure of alcohol-related admissions suggest an increase on last year, whilst the 'narrow' measure suggests a fall for the first time. Meanwhile, the final release of the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, focusing on drinking in the last week, will no longer continue.

Key figures from the national statistics release include:

Hospital admissions – broad measure

• There were 1.1 million estimated admissions where the primary reason for hospital admission or a secondary diagnosis was linked to alcohol, which is 1% higher than 2015/16 (broad measure). This represents 7.0% of all hospital admissions.
• Salford had the highest rate at 3,500 per 100,000 population. Rutland had the lowest rate at 1,390.
• 51% of admissions were for CVD. 17% were for mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol.

Hospital admissions – narrow measure

• In 2016/17 there were 337 thousand estimated admissions where the main reason for admission to hospital was attributable to alcohol (narrow measure). This is 1% lower than 2015/16 and 17% higher than 2006/07.
• This represents 2.1% of all hospital admissions which has changed little in the last 10 years.
• The number of admissions rises with age up until 45-54 and then falls. 39% of patients were aged between 45 and 64.
• Blackpool had the highest rate at 1,150 per 100,000 population. Redbridge had the lowest rate at 390.

Deaths

• In England in 2016, there were 5,507 alcohol-specific deaths. The number of deaths is 4% higher than 2015 and an increase of 11% on 2006.
• The alcohol-specific age-standardised death rates per 100,000 population were 14.5 for males in 2016 which is over twice the rate for females.
• The rates for both males and females has remained broadly similar since 2006.
• Alcoholic liver disease accounted for 82% of the 5,507 alcohol-specific deaths. A further 8% were from mental and behavioural disorders due to the use of alcohol.
• A further 1,982 deaths were due to unspecified hepatitis and fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver. These deaths are not defined as alcohol-specific deaths

The release notes:

The data source is the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which uses the new National Statistics (NS) definition of alcohol-specific deaths. This definition only includes conditions where each death is a direct consequence of alcohol misuse. The definition is primarily based on chronic (longer-term) conditions associated with continued misuse of alcohol and, to a lesser extent, acute (immediate) conditions.

Prescriptions

• The number of prescription items dispensed in England in 2017 was 173 thousand which was 8% lower than the 188 thousand prescription items in 2016 but 41% higher than 2007. This is the second successive year on year decrease.
• 135 thousand items of Acamprosate Calcium were dispensed in 2017 which is similar to 2016 but 78% higher than the number dispensed ten years ago.
• 36 thousand items of Disulfiram were dispensed in 2017 which is 28% lower than 2016. The peak was 61 thousand in 2012.
• 2,500 items of Nalmefene (introduced in 2013) were dispensed in 2017 which is 26% lower than 2016.

Consumption

The national statistics release includes the latest Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) data on alcohol consumption, key figures including:

• England had the highest proportion of adults who said they drank alcohol in the previous week (57.8%), followed by Scotland (53.5%) and then Wales (50.0%)
• Young people aged 16 to 24 years in Great Britain are less likely to drink than any other age group; when they do drink, consumption on their heaviest drinking day tends to be higher than other ages.
• 20.4% of survey respondents reported that they did not drink alcohol at all.
• People working in managerial and professional occupations, in addition to the highest earners, were most likely to say they drank alcohol in the past week.

See here for a Twitter thread by Colin Angus looking at the current release and implications.

The ONS state 'this will be the last statistical release on adult drinking habits in Great Britain. The decision to discontinue this release has not been taken lightly', stating the reasons as:

• Our current questions on alcohol consumption are outdated
• The data are not being used to support government policy
• We are unable to justify the cost for redesign or future running costs
• Data on alcohol consumption are readily available elsewhere

Further explanation of these reasons is given here. The national statistics report also details figures for children's drinking behaviours, though no new data are available for the last year other than the Smoking, Drinking and Drug use among Young People in England (SDD) data which is not comparable to previous years owing to a change in methodology.

Road casualties involving illegal alcohol levels

• Provisional estimates for 2016 show that between 200 and 280 people were killed in accidents in Great Britain where at least one driver was over the drink-drive limit, with a central estimate of 240 deaths. This is 13% of all deaths in reported road accidents.
• An estimated 9,050 people were killed or injured when at least one driver was over the drink-drive limit. This is 5% of all reported road casualties and is the highest number since 2012.

Expenditure and affordability

• In the UK since 1980 alcohol has become 64% more affordable, and 1.1% more affordable since 2007
• £43 per person was spent on food and drink (including alcoholic drinks and food eaten out) per week in 2016/17 in the UK. Taking inflation into account, this was 1.1% more than 2015, and 0.1% more than 2013.
• In real terms, between 2013 and 2016/17 spending on all household food and drink fell by 0.5% and eating out expenditure rose by 9.4%. Household spending on alcoholic drinks rose by 2.8% over the same period, and that bought for consumption outside the home also rose by 1.7%.
• Alcohol intake rose 7.7% in 2016/17 to 9.7 grams of alcohol per person per day. Eating out purchases accounted for 28% of total alcohol intake in 2016/17.
• In 2016/17, eating out intakes of alcohol were 38% higher than in 2013 and up until 2014 showed a significant downward trend.
• Alcohol intake from eating out purchases declined 35% between 2001-02 and 2016/17.