Defining alcohol-related fatal medical conditions for social-cost studies in Western societies: An update of the epidemiological evidence

Abstract

Objectives: To elaborate a state-of-the-art list of alcohol-related fatal medical conditions for future social-cost studies in Western societies. Methods: Three major social-cost studies were compared with regard to their respective section on fatal health effects attributable to long-term as well as short-term use of alcohol. On discordant conditions, a systematic literature search was conducted in the Medline and ETOH databases. Results: There is no consensus between social-cost studies with respect to alcohol-related causes of mortality. Based on the recent epidemiological evidence on alcohol and health, this paper suggests an up-to-date list of fatal medical conditions for which the causal relationship has been established with sufficient scientific evidence. A further investigation is needed, however, to reestimate relative risks by meta-analysis. Conclusions: Evaluating new epidemiological evidence regularly is necessary for the purpose of up-to-date social-cost studies