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- Stelemekas, Štelemėkas, et al.
(author)
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Alcohol control policy measures and all-cause mortality in Lithuania : an interrupted time-series analysis
- 2021
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In: Addiction. - : Wiley. - 0965-2140 .- 1360-0443. ; 116:10, s. 2673-2684
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and aims Alcohol use has been identified as a major risk factor for burden of mortality and disease, particularly for countries in eastern Europe. During the past two decades, several countries in this region have implemented effective alcohol policy measures to combat this burden. The aim of the current study was to measure the association between Lithuania's alcohol control policies and adult all-cause mortality.Design Interrupted time-series methodology by means of general additive models.Setting Lithuania.Participants Adult population of Lithuania, aged 20 years and older.Measurements Alcohol control policies were ascertained via a document review of relevant legislation materials. Policy effects were evaluated as follows: (1) slope changes in periods of legislative (non-)activity with regard to alcohol control policy (analysis 1); (2) level changes of three interventions following recommendations of the World Health Organization (analysis 2); and (3) level changes of seven interventions judged a priori by an international panel of experts (analysis 3). Mortality was measured by sex-stratified and total monthly age-standardized rates of all-cause mortality for the adult population.Findings During the period 2001-18, effective alcohol control policy measures were implemented on several occasions, and in those years the all-cause mortality rate declined by approximately 3.2% more than in years without such policies. In particular, the implementation of increased taxation in 2017 was associated with reduced mortality over and above the general trend for men and in total for all analyses, which amounted to 1452 deaths avoided (95% confidence interval = -166 to -2739) in the year following the implementation of the policy.Conclusions Alcohol control policies in Lithuania appear to have reduced the overall adult all-cause mortality over and above secular trends.
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| 2. |
- Tran, Alexander, et al.
(author)
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The Impact of Increasing the Minimum Legal Drinking Age from 18 to 20 Years in Lithuania on All-Cause Mortality in Young Adults - An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis
- 2021
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In: Alcohol and Alcoholism. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0735-0414 .- 1464-3502. ; 57:4, s. 513-519
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Short Summary: We investigated the effect of an increase in minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) on all-cause mortality in young adults (aged 18-19). MLDA had a negative effect on all-cause mortality (even when controlling for general trends using other age groups), however when confounding factors were included, these effects were attenuated.Aims: To determine the effect of an alcohol policy change, which increased the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) from 18 years of age to 20 years of age on all-cause mortality rates in young adults (18-19 years old) in Lithuania.Methods: An interrupted time series analysis was conducted on a dataset from 2001 to 2019 (n = 228 months). The model tested the effects of the MLDA on all-cause mortality rates (deaths per 100,000 individuals) in three age categories (15-17 years old, 18-19 years old, 20-22 years old) in order to control for general mortality trends in young adults, and to isolate the effects of the MLDA from other alcohol control policies. Additional models that included GDP as a covariate and a taxation policy were tested as well. Results There was a significant effect of the MLDA on all-cause mortality rates in those 18-19 years old, when modelled alone. Additional analyses controlling for the mortality rate of other age groups showed similar findings. Inclusion of confounding factors (policies on alcohol taxation, GDP) eliminated the effects of MLDA.Conclusions: Although there was a notable decline in all-cause mortality rates among young adults in Lithuania, a direct causal impact of MLDA on all-cause mortality rates in young adults was not definitively found.
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