Evaluation of an alcohol policy measure employing a randomised controlled trial design: Why was it possible?

Rossow, Ingeborg; Grøtting, Maja Weemes

doi:10.1111/dar.13230

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Study participants are monopoly outlets in Norway. In June 2020, the state monopoly agreed to implement the extension of trading hours within a randomized controlled trial design (more details regarding how this agreement was reached is provided elsewhere [21]). Of the 335 alcohol monopoly outlets in Norway (distributed over 66 trade districts), 107 outlets were not included in the study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of extended trading hours on alcohol sales in Norway: study protocol for a stepped wedge cluster‐randomized trial

Grøtting

Bergsvik

2021

Addiction

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Background and aims Norwegian alcohol policy measures include national restrictions on sales hours and a state monopoly on retail sales. A 1‐hour extension of sales hours on Saturdays in the monopoly outlets took effect from September 2020. We aim to evaluate whether increase in sales hours results in (1) an increase in alcohol sales in the monopoly outlets and (2) an increase in total alcohol sales, including substitution effects from beer sales in grocery stores. Design The extension of Saturday sales hours is implemented within a stepped wedge cluster‐randomized trial design. Block randomization of 62 of the 66 Norwegian trade districts allocated monopoly outlets to one of three sequences regarding date of implementation. Setting and participants A total of 228 of 335 in total Norwegian state monopoly outlets are eligible and included. Intervention The extension of sales hours is from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. starting on the first Saturday in (i) September 2020, (ii) December 2020 or (iii) March 2021. Measurements Growth rates in monthly alcohol sales, measured in litres of pure alcohol, in eligible monopoly outlets (primary outcome) are obtained together with beverage‐specific sales and alcohol sales in grocery stores (secondary outcomes). The observation period is set to 72 months prior to and 24 months after implementation. Findings Power analyses indicate that this stepped wedge cluster‐randomized controlled trial has a power above 90%, even at a high significance level (α = 0.01) and with other conservative model specifications. The planned trial offers a rare opportunity to study possible causal effects of a relatively small change in a widely used alcohol policy measure.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of extended trading hours on alcohol sales in Norway: study protocol for a stepped wedge cluster‐randomized trial

Grøtting

Bergsvik

2021

Addiction

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“…Et li bedre svar får vi kanskje snart. I forbindelse med planleggingen av de utvidede åpningstidene tok nemlig Helse-og omsorgsdepartementet kontakt med Folkehelseinstitu et og ba om at det ble utført en undersøkelse (2). Så da Stortinget i juni 2020 vedtok utvidelsen, ble den innført trinnvis i form av en klyngerandomisert, kontrollert studie, utviklet for å kunne fange opp eventuelle endringer (3).…”

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First study, then introduce?

Ørstavik¹

2022

Tidsskriftet

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Effect of a small increase in off‐premises trading hours on alcohol sales in Norway: A stepped‐wedge cluster‐randomized controlled trial

Bergsvik,

Grøtting,

Rossow

2024

Addiction

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Background and aimsEvidence of the effect of limiting off‐premises alcohol trading hours is still scarce. This study tested the effect of a small extension in trading hours on alcohol sales in alcohol monopoly outlets in Norway.DesignThe extension of trading hours was implemented within a stepped‐wedge cluster‐randomized trial design. Eligible state monopoly outlets (n = 229) were clustered into trade districts (n = 62), which were block‐randomized to one of three sequences regarding date of implementation: 1 September 2020 (n = 21 districts, 82 outlets), 1 December 2020 (n = 21 districts, 73 outlets) and 1 March 2021 (n = 20 districts, 74 outlets). Outcomes were followed‐up for a 1‐year period.Setting and participantsStudy participants were state monopoly outlets in urban and rural trade districts in all parts of Norway.MeasurementsMonthly alcohol sales in litres of pure alcohol per trade district and per outlet were measured from March 2020 to March 2022 (primary outcome). We applied a linear mixed‐effect model with two‐way fixed effects within a difference‐in‐difference framework. As a robustness check we considered the effects of cross‐border trade and effects in subgroups of outlets. Trading hours in monopoly outlets were extended by 1 hour on Saturdays. The extension was permanent. Pre‐intervention periods and not‐yet‐treated units served as control conditions.FindingsWe did not find a statistically significant effect of the small extension in trading hours on monthly alcohol sales (i) per trade district [average treatment effect: −185.5 litres, 95% confidence interval (CI) = −1159.9, 788.9] and (ii) per outlet (−35.3 litres, 95% CI = −142.1, 72.0). These findings were consistent across estimation methods and model specifications.ConclusionThere is no clear evidence that a small extension in off‐premises trading hours affected alcohol sales in monopoly outlets in Norway.

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Evaluation of an alcohol policy measure employing a randomised controlled trial design: Why was it possible?

Cited by 4 publications

References 17 publications

Effect of extended trading hours on alcohol sales in Norway: study protocol for a stepped wedge cluster‐randomized trial

Effect of extended trading hours on alcohol sales in Norway: study protocol for a stepped wedge cluster‐randomized trial

First study, then introduce?

Effect of a small increase in off‐premises trading hours on alcohol sales in Norway: A stepped‐wedge cluster‐randomized controlled trial

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