Alcohol sale status and homicide victimization in Kentucky, 2005-2012: Is there a spatial association?

Abstract

To date, the association between the alcohol sale status of decedents’ residence and alcohol-related homicide victimization have not been studied as far as we know. The current study aims to: i) determine whether homicide victims who were residents of wet counties had higher odds of testing positive for alcohol than their counterparts in moist or dry counties after adjusting for confounders; ii) determine whether homicides and alcohol-related homicides tend to cluster spatially; iii) determine whether the aforementioned associations exist only in highly-populated counties. A multilevel logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the data on homicide victims in the Kentucky Violent Death Reporting System from 2005 to 2012. Spatial statistics were used to determine the spatial autocorrelation in rates of homicides and alcohol-related homicides. Overall, 944 homicide victims were included. The male to female ratio was 3:1. About 32.8% of homicide victims tested positive for alcohol. About 33.0% of homicide decedents who were residents in wet counties tested positive for alcohol compared to 32.5% of their counterparts in moist/dry counties. Residence in wet counties was associated with a statistically insignificant increase in the unadjusted odds ratio (OR) of alcohol-related homicide victimization (OR=1.20, 95% CI=0.81-1.77) as well as the adjusted odds (aOR=1.33, 95% CI=0.83-2.12). There was no association between population size and alcohol-related homicide rate.

Homicide rates are spatially associated with built environment and socio-economic factors: a study in the neighbourhoods of Toronto, Canada

“…A study in Kentucky, USA, examined the homicides rates at the county level and showed that homicide rates were higher in areas with high alcohol sales. The multilevel logistic regression was performed using clustered and non-clustered homicide areas as the binomial dependent variable; however, if the researchers had used the GWR method, the spatial association between homicide rates and independent variables would have been obtained [ 59 ]. Another study based on GIS and spatial analysis [ 60 ] showed that violent crimes and homicide rates were higher in areas where secondary schools and sport places were concentrated.…”