Trends in alcohol expenditure among risky drinkers: A population study in England, 2014–2023

IF 4.4 2区医学 Q1 SUBSTANCE ABUSE

International Journal of Drug Policy Pub Date : 2024-10-10 DOI:10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104615

Sarah Jackson , Melissa Oldham , Colin Angus , Claire Garnett , Luke Wilson , John Holmes , Jamie Brown

{"title":"Trends in alcohol expenditure among risky drinkers: A population study in England, 2014–2023","authors":"Sarah Jackson , Melissa Oldham , Colin Angus , Claire Garnett , Luke Wilson , John Holmes , Jamie Brown","doi":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104615","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>This study aimed to estimate time trends in alcohol expenditure among risky drinkers in England over the past decade, to understand whether these trends are driven by changes in prices paid or volumes purchased, and to explore differences between population subgroups.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Nationally-representative monthly cross-sectional survey. Participants were 44,382 adults (≥18y) drinking at risky levels (AUDIT-C ≥ 5; ‘risky drinkers’). Linear regression modelled trends between March-2014 and October-2023 in (i) mean weekly inflation-adjusted expenditure on alcohol, (ii) mean weekly alcohol consumption in units, and (iii) mean inflation-adjusted expenditure per unit of alcohol, overall and by age, gender, social grade, region, and smoking status.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>There was an uncertain decrease in mean weekly expenditure from £18.90 [95 %CI=£18.30-£19.50] in March-2014 to £17.90 [£17.60-£18.30] in May-2016, then an uncertain increase to £18.60 [£18.30-£18.90] between May-2016 and June-2018. This was followed by a further decline to £16.90 [£16.60-£17.30] by April-2021 and subsequent rise to £18.60 [£17.90-£19.40] by October-2023. Changes in weekly alcohol expenditure were more closely mirrored by changes in mean expenditure per unit of alcohol than by changes in mean weekly alcohol consumption in units. Notable subgroup differences included sharp rises in weekly alcohol expenditure since 2021 among younger ages (driven by a rise in expenditure per unit of alcohol) and current smokers (driven by a rise in weekly units of alcohol consumed).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>In England, the average amount adult risky drinkers reported spending on alcohol each week has fluctuated since 2014, with a notable decrease around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and a subsequent rise since restrictions were lifted and since the cost-of-living crisis has led to high rates of inflation. Except for current smokers, this pattern appears to have been driven predominantly by changes in the price paid per unit rather than changes in consumption.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48364,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Drug Policy","volume":"133 ","pages":"Article 104615"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Drug Policy","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395924002998","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"SUBSTANCE ABUSE","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

This study aimed to estimate time trends in alcohol expenditure among risky drinkers in England over the past decade, to understand whether these trends are driven by changes in prices paid or volumes purchased, and to explore differences between population subgroups.

Methods

Nationally-representative monthly cross-sectional survey. Participants were 44,382 adults (≥18y) drinking at risky levels (AUDIT-C ≥ 5; ‘risky drinkers’). Linear regression modelled trends between March-2014 and October-2023 in (i) mean weekly inflation-adjusted expenditure on alcohol, (ii) mean weekly alcohol consumption in units, and (iii) mean inflation-adjusted expenditure per unit of alcohol, overall and by age, gender, social grade, region, and smoking status.

Results

There was an uncertain decrease in mean weekly expenditure from £18.90 [95 %CI=£18.30-£19.50] in March-2014 to £17.90 [£17.60-£18.30] in May-2016, then an uncertain increase to £18.60 [£18.30-£18.90] between May-2016 and June-2018. This was followed by a further decline to £16.90 [£16.60-£17.30] by April-2021 and subsequent rise to £18.60 [£17.90-£19.40] by October-2023. Changes in weekly alcohol expenditure were more closely mirrored by changes in mean expenditure per unit of alcohol than by changes in mean weekly alcohol consumption in units. Notable subgroup differences included sharp rises in weekly alcohol expenditure since 2021 among younger ages (driven by a rise in expenditure per unit of alcohol) and current smokers (driven by a rise in weekly units of alcohol consumed).

Conclusions

In England, the average amount adult risky drinkers reported spending on alcohol each week has fluctuated since 2014, with a notable decrease around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and a subsequent rise since restrictions were lifted and since the cost-of-living crisis has led to high rates of inflation. Except for current smokers, this pattern appears to have been driven predominantly by changes in the price paid per unit rather than changes in consumption.

查看原文本刊更多论文

危险饮酒者的酒精支出趋势：英格兰人口研究，2014-2023 年。

研究背景：本研究旨在估算过去十年间英格兰高风险饮酒者的酒精支出时间趋势，了解这些趋势是由支付价格的变化还是购买量的变化引起的，并探讨不同人口亚群之间的差异：方法：具有全国代表性的月度横断面调查。参与者为 44,382 名成年人（≥18 岁），他们的饮酒量达到了危险水平（AUDIT-C ≥ 5；"危险饮酒者"）。线性回归模拟了 2014 年 3 月至 2023 年 10 月期间：(i) 经通货膨胀调整后的平均每周酒类支出；(ii) 以单位为单位的平均每周酒类消费；(iii) 经通货膨胀调整后的平均每单位酒类支出的总体趋势，以及按年龄、性别、社会等级、地区和吸烟状况分类的趋势：平均每周支出从2014年3月的18.90英镑[95 %CI=18.30-19.50英镑]不确定地降至2016年5月的17.90英镑[17.60-18.30英镑]，然后在2016年5月至2018年6月期间不确定地增至18.60英镑[18.30-18.90英镑]。随后，到 2021 年 4 月将进一步下降至 16.90 英镑[16.60-17.30 英镑]，到 2023 年 10 月将上升至 18.60 英镑[17.90-19.40 英镑]。与每周平均酒精消费单位的变化相比，每周平均酒精消费单位的变化更能反映每周酒精消费支出的变化。值得注意的亚组差异包括：自 2021 年以来，年轻群体的每周酒精支出急剧上升（受每单位酒精支出上升的影响），以及当前吸烟者的每周酒精支出急剧上升（受每周酒精消费单位上升的影响）：在英格兰，成年风险饮酒者报告的每周平均饮酒支出自 2014 年以来一直在波动，在 2020 年 COVID-19 大流行开始前后出现明显下降，而在限制取消后以及生活费用危机导致高通胀率后又出现上升。除当前吸烟者外，这种模式似乎主要是由单位支付价格的变化而非消费量的变化所驱动。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

International Journal of Drug Policy SUBSTANCE ABUSE-

CiteScore

7.80

自引率

11.40%

发文量

307

审稿时长

62 days

期刊介绍： The International Journal of Drug Policy provides a forum for the dissemination of current research, reviews, debate, and critical analysis on drug use and drug policy in a global context. It seeks to publish material on the social, political, legal, and health contexts of psychoactive substance use, both licit and illicit. The journal is particularly concerned to explore the effects of drug policy and practice on drug-using behaviour and its health and social consequences. It is the policy of the journal to represent a wide range of material on drug-related matters from around the world.