Finland experienced a large reduction in alcohol prices in 2004 due to in the lowering of alcohol taxes by about one-third and the abolition of duty-free allowances for travellers from the EU. We examined the effects of these changes on alcohol-related hospitalisations.
Time-series intervention analyses of monthly aggregations of hospitalisation for acute and chronic causes among men and women aged 15-39, 40-49, 50-69 and over 69 years.
After the price reduction the chronic hospitalisation rate for men increased among those below the age 70. It was largest among those aged 50-69 years: 22% which implies an increase of 18.0 monthly hospitalisations per 100 000 person-years, and there was an 11% and a 16% (11.5 and 4.8 monthly hospitalisations) increase among those aged 40-49 and 15-39, respectively. Among the women the rate increased by 23% (4.0 monthly hospitalisations) in the 50-69 year-olds, and decreased in the under-40s. The increase in all of the population groups was mainly due to an increase in mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol. Acute hospitalisations increased by 17% and 20% (6.2 and 7.0 per month) among men aged 40-49 and 50-69 years, respectively, and by 38% among women aged 50-69 years (2.3 per month).
The results, obtained in a natural experimental setting when trends and seasonal variation had been taken into account, suggest that the reduction in alcohol prices led to increases in alcohol-related hospitalisation in certain population groups, most among 50-69-year-olds, in Finland.
The results, obtained in a natural experimental setting when trends and seasonal variation had been taken into account, suggest that the reduction in alcohol prices led to increases in alcohol-related hospitalisation in certain population groups, most among 50-69-year-olds, in Finland.
Request Reprint E-Mail: kimmo.herttua@helsinki.fi
