Burden of Disease Associated with Alcohol Use Disorders in the United States

Abstract

Background Alcohol use disorders (AUD) have long been considered to be some of the most disabling mental disorders; however, empirical data on the burden of disease associated with AUD have been sparse. The objective of this article is to quantify the burden of disease (in disability-adjusted life years [DALYs] lost), deaths, years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLL), and years of life lost due to disability (YLD) associated with AUD for the United States in 2005. Methods Statistical modeling was based on epidemiological indicators derived from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Formal consistency analyses were applied. Risk relations were taken from recent meta-analyses and the disability weights from the burden of disease study of the National Institutes of Health. Monte Carlo simulations were used to derive confidence intervals. All analyses were performed by sex and age. Sensitivity analyses were undertaken on key indicators. Results In the United States in 2005, 65,000 deaths, 1,152,000 YLL, 2,443,000 YLD, and 3,595,000 DALYs were associated with AUD. For individuals 18 years of age and older, AUD were associated with 3% of all deaths (5% for men and 1 % for women), and 5% of all YLL (7% for men and 2% for women). The majority of the burden of disease associated with AUD stemmed from YLD, which accounted for 68% of DALYs associated with AUD (66% for men and 74% for women). The youngest age group had the largest proportion of DALYs associated with AUD stemming from YLD. Conclusions Using data from a large representative survey (checked for consistency) and by combining these data with the best available evidence, we found that AUD were associated with a larger burden of disease than previously estimated. To reduce this disease burden, implementation of prevention interventions and expansion of treatment are necessary.

A dysbiotic subpopulation of alcohol-dependent subjects

“…Alcohol dependence causes an extremely high burden on society, due to its consequences on health, on criminality and hazards to others. [3][4][5] However, a majority of alcoholic subjects do not even have access to therapy. 6 Hence, treating alcohol-dependent (AD) subjects is certainly an important challenge for the medical community, and a multidisciplinary approach could be promoted in order to integrate contributions from various fields of expertise, including psychological, social and biological approaches.…”

Impacts of Alcoholism in Public Health: A Systematic Review

“…As example of individual damages, there is the exacerbating or contributing to a multitude of health and social problems, including physical and psychological illness; interpersonal conflicts; violence and legal problems; unemployment; poverty; deleterious reproductive outcomes; disability; and premature death [9]. This was ratified by , who found that Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD) were shown to be responsible for a sizable portion of mortality and the burden of disease in the United States, a finding similar to recent European studies with slightly different methodology [10,11,49].…”

“…Alcohol consumption has negative effects on society because of alcohol-related mortality and morbidity [48], decreasing users' health and related people's safety and comfort. For example, the numbers of deaths associated with AUD were considerable: we estimated that approximately 53, 000 male deaths and 12, 000 female deaths in the United States in 2005 were associated with AUD [49]. In France, out of 535000 deaths in 2009, 49000 were attributable to alcohol: 36500 among men and 12500 among women, which represent 13 and 5%, respectively, of total deaths [50].…”

“…More than 76 million people suffer from alcohol use disorders (AUD) [1]. These data turn the alcohol consumption in the one ]of the most important global risk factors for the burden of disease [2,3,4,49]. Because of its important prevalence in different countries and its potential harmful effects, several studies have confirmed innumerable individual and social damages, such as those that burden the public health.…”

“…There have been several efforts to estimate alcohol-attributable deaths and years of life lost due to premature mortality [5,6,7,8,49]. As example of individual damages, there is the exacerbating or contributing to a multitude of health and social problems, including physical and psychological illness; interpersonal conflicts; violence and legal problems; unemployment; poverty; deleterious reproductive outcomes; disability; and premature death [9].…”