A cost-effectiveness analysis of alcohol prevention targeting licensed premises

The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access published online on March 25, 2007

A multi-component alcohol prevention programme targeting licenced premises has been ongoing in Stockholm since 1996. An earlier study has established that this led to a 29% reduction in police-reported violence. The objective of the present study is to calculate the programme's cost-effectiveness from a societal perspective; the cost of implementation, the savings made as a result of fewer assaults, unlawful threats and violence towards officials, and the health gains in terms of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs).

The cost of the programme was estimated at Euro 796 000. The average cost of a violent crime was estimated at Euro 19 049, which implies overall savings of Euro 31.314 million related to the judicial system (78%), production losses (15%), health care issues (5%) and other damages (2%). Accordingly, the base case cost-saving ratio was 1 : 39. The average loss of health state weighting among the victims at 0.09 translates into 236 gained QALYs for society as a whole, which should be compared with the modest proportion of savings in the health sector.

The most significant concern is the low response rate (35%), and caution needs to be exercised when interpreting our results. Yet, a reasonable conclusion is that the monetary and human benefits have been considerable.

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