Heavy Drinkers and the Potential Impact of Minimum Unit Pricing—No Single or Simple Effect?

Gill, Jan S; Black, Heather; Rush, Robert; O’May, Fiona; Chick, Jonathan

doi:10.1093/alcalc/agx060

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…Although we partially controlled for lack of actual consumption data by looking at mean number of purchases over time,30 we acknowledge that heavy drinkers, particularly male drinkers or those with no fixed address or living in communal establishments, are likely to be under-represented in household panel data,5152 and that alcohol purchases are under-reported in general in these datasets 53. For example, compared with the UK Living Costs and Food Survey, KWP households tend to have lower incomes, are more likely to be female headed (as main or primary shoppers), and their expenditure on certain commodity items, including alcohol, tends to be lower 54.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immediate impact of minimum unit pricing on alcohol purchases in Scotland: controlled interrupted time series analysis for 2015-18

O’Donnell

Anderson

Jané‐Llopis

et al. 2019

BMJ

148

180

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Objective To assess the immediate impact of the introduction of minimum unit pricing in Scotland on household alcohol purchases. Design Controlled interrupted time series analysis. Setting Purchase data from Kantar Worldpanel’s household shopping panel for 2015-18. Participants 5325 Scottish households, 54 807 English households as controls, and 10 040 households in northern England to control for potential cross border effects. Interventions Introduction of a minimum price of 50p (€0.55; $0.61) per UK unit (6.25p per gram) for the sale of alcohol in Scotland on 1 May 2018. Main outcome measures Price per gram of alcohol, number of grams of alcohol purchased from off-trade by households, and weekly household expenditure on alcohol. Results The introduction of minimum unit pricing in Scotland was associated with an increase in purchase price of 0.64p per gram of alcohol (95% confidence interval 0.54 to 0.75), a reduction in weekly purchases of 9.5 g of alcohol per adult per household (5.1 to 13.9), and a non-significant increase in weekly expenditure on alcohol per household of 61p (−5 to 127). The increase in purchase price was higher in lower income households and in households that purchased the largest amount of alcohol. The reduction in purchased grams of alcohol was greater in lower income households and only occurred in the top fifth of households by income that purchased the greatest amount of alcohol, where the reduction was 15 g of alcohol per week (6 to 24). Changes in weekly expenditure were not systematically related to household income but increased with increasing household purchases. Conclusions In terms of immediate impact, the introduction of minimum unit pricing appears to have been successful in reducing the amount of alcohol purchased by households in Scotland. The action was targeted, in that reductions of purchased alcohol only occurred in the households that bought the most alcohol.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immediate impact of minimum unit pricing on alcohol purchases in Scotland: controlled interrupted time series analysis for 2015-18

O’Donnell

Anderson

Jané‐Llopis

et al. 2019

BMJ

148

180

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Other studies yield similar results, showing that the major impact of MUP is on heavy drinkers. 57,58,60 These modelling studies suggest that alcohol-attributable health inequalities would fall by a greater amount under MUP than tax changes. 59 MUP has already been implemented in several countries including Russia, Canada, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus and more recently in the Northern Territory of Australia and in Scotland.…”

Section: Pricing Policiesmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…In different societies such as England, Scotland and Ireland, patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis consume mainly cheap alcohol. [56][57][58] Different studies and model-based reports, mainly within the UK population, have shown a clear impact of increasing the MUP on ALD reduction. 59 A recent report from the Welsh government compared the effects of tax cuts and MUP across different populations.…”

Section: Pricing Policiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public health policies and alcohol-related liver disease

et al. 2019

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Alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) represents a major public health problem worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, the highest levels of per capita alcohol consumption are observed in countries of the European Region. Alcohol consumption is also alarmingly increasing in developing countries. ALD is one of the main contributors to the burden of alcoholattributable deaths and disability. In the United States, severe forms of ALD such alcoholic hepatitis have increased in the last decade and in the United Kingdom, three-quarters of liver-related mortality results from alcohol consumption. Besides genetic factors, there is strong evidence that the amount of alcohol consumed plays a major role in the development of advanced ALD. Establishing effective public health policies is therefore mandatory to reduce the burden of ALD. Since the 90s, major public health institutions and governments have developed a variety of policies in order to reduce the harm caused by excessive drinking. These policies encompass multiple factors, from pricing and taxation to advertising regulation. Measures focused on taxation and price regulation have been shown to be the most effective at reducing alcohol-related mortality. However, there are few studies focused on the effect of public policies on ALD. This review article summarises the factors influencing ALD burden and the role of different public health policies.

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“…Although quality control and compliance for the purchase data are regularly monitored by Kantar, with households only included in the final data set if they adhere to pre-assigned quality control criteria (meeting thresholds for data recording and purchasing volume or spend (based on household size) every four weeks), the data have limitations. Heavy drinkers, particularly male drinkers or those with no fixed address or living in communal establishments, are likely to be under-represented in household panel data [ 31 , 32 ] and that alcohol purchases are under-reported in general in these datasets [ 33 ]. For example, compared with the UK Living Costs and Food Survey, KWP households tend to have lower incomes, are more likely to be female headed (as main or primary shoppers), and their expenditure on certain commodity items, including alcohol, tends to be lower [ 34 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Buying and Drinking Zero and Low Alcohol Beer a Higher Socio-Economic Phenomenon? Analysis of British Survey Data, 2015–2018 and Household Purchase Data 2015–2020

Anderson

O’Donnell

Kokole

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Zero and low alcohol products, particularly beer, are gaining consideration as a method to reduce consumption of ethanol. We do not know if this approach is likely to increase or decrease health inequalities. The aim of the study was to determine if the purchase and consumption of zero and low alcohol beers differs by demographic and socio-economic characteristics of consumers. Based on British household purchase data from 79,411 households and on British survey data of more than 104,635 adult (18+) respondents, we estimated the likelihood of buying and drinking zero (ABV = 0.0%) and low alcohol (ABV > 0.0% and ≤ 3.5%) beer by a range of socio-demographic characteristics. We found that buying and consuming zero alcohol beer is much more likely to occur in younger age groups, in more affluent households, and in those with higher social grades, with gaps in buying zero alcohol beer between households in higher and lower social grades widening between 2015 and 2020. Buying and drinking low alcohol beer had less consistent relationships with socio-demographic characteristics, but was strongly driven by households that normally buy and drink the most alcohol. Common to many health-related behaviours, it seems that it is the more affluent that lead the way in choosing zero or low alcohol products. Whilst the increased availability of zero and low alcohol products might be a useful tool to reduce overall ethanol consumption in the more socially advantageous part of society, it may be less beneficial for the rest of the population. Other evidence-based alcohol policy measures that lessen health inequalities, need to go hand-in-hand with those promoting the uptake of zero and low alcohol beer.

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Heavy Drinkers and the Potential Impact of Minimum Unit Pricing—No Single or Simple Effect?

Cited by 8 publications

References 19 publications

Immediate impact of minimum unit pricing on alcohol purchases in Scotland: controlled interrupted time series analysis for 2015-18

Immediate impact of minimum unit pricing on alcohol purchases in Scotland: controlled interrupted time series analysis for 2015-18

Public health policies and alcohol-related liver disease

Is Buying and Drinking Zero and Low Alcohol Beer a Higher Socio-Economic Phenomenon? Analysis of British Survey Data, 2015–2018 and Household Purchase Data 2015–2020

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