Maryland Alcohol Sales Tax and Sexually Transmitted Infections

Staras, Stephanie A. S.; Livingston, Melvin D.; Wagenaar, Alexander C.

doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2015.09.025

Cited by 17 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…These results are consistent with recent findings that the Maryland tax increase also reduced per-capita alcohol consumption and sexually transmitted diseases. 4,5 Increasing alcohol taxes in combination with other alcohol-control policies is an effective means of reducing drunk driving and may contribute in maximizing the public health gain across different age groups.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Maryland’s 2011 Alcohol Sales Tax Increase on Alcohol-Positive Driving

Lavoie

Langenberg

Villaveces

et al. 2017

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

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Introduction The 2011 Maryland alcohol sales tax increase from 6% to 9% provided an opportunity to evaluate the impact on rates of alcohol-positive drivers involved in injury crashes. Methods Maryland police crash reports from 2001 to 2013 were analyzed using an interrupted time series design and a multivariable analysis employing generalized estimating equations models with a negative binomial distribution. Data were analyzed in 2014–2015. Results There was a significant gradual annual reduction of 6% in the population-based rate of all alcohol-positive drivers (p < 0.03), and a 12% reduction for drivers aged 15–20 years (p < 0.007), and 21–34 years (p < 0.001) following the alcohol sales tax increase. There were no significant changes in rates of alcohol-positive drivers aged 35–54 years (rate ratio, 0.98; 95% CI = 0.89, 1.09). Drivers aged ≥ 55 years had a significant immediate 10% increase in the rate of alcohol-positive drivers (rate ratio, 1.10; 95% CI = 1.04, 1.16) and a gradual increase of 4.8% per year after the intervention. Models using different denominators and controlling for multiple factors including a proxy for unmeasured factors found similar results overall. Conclusions The 2011 Maryland alcohol sales tax increase led to a significant reduction in the rate of all alcohol-positive drivers involved in injury crashes especially among drivers aged 15–34 years. This is the first study to examine the impact of alcohol sales taxes on crashes; previous research focused on excise tax. Increasing alcohol taxes is an important but often neglected intervention to reduce alcohol-impaired driving.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Maryland’s 2011 Alcohol Sales Tax Increase on Alcohol-Positive Driving

Lavoie

Langenberg

Villaveces

et al. 2017

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

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“…Alcohol use, particularly heavy drinking, is a well-known risk factor in sexually transmitted infection (STI) transmission via its association with sexual risk-taking, such as condomless sex and multiple casual partners [21,22]. Studies in the US and Canada have indicated subsequent reductions in STI rates following alcohol tax increases [23][24][25][26][27][28]. Evaluations of multiple tax increases on beer across the 50 US states in the 1980s and 1990s found decreases in gonorrhoea [25][26][27], syphilis [26] and AIDS [25] rates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most recent US studies examining the effects of a 2009 alcohol tax increase in Illinois and a 2011 alcohol tax increase in Maryland found reductions in chlamydia [24] and gonorrhoea [23,24] rates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite using robust controlled interrupted time series [23,24,26,27] and interrupted time series designs [25,28], none of these studies controlled for the frequency of STI tests. The commonly accepted approach for estimating harm rates in studies of this nature is to rely on formal estimates of resident population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The commonly accepted approach for estimating harm rates in studies of this nature is to rely on formal estimates of resident population. All studies of the association between alcohol price changes and STIs to date have relied on the resident population to estimate STI rates [23][24][25][26][27][28]. However, trends in chlamydia diagnoses are strongly correlated with the number of tests that occurred in that population during the same period and do not necessarily reflect the underlying prevalence in the population [29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Association between the Australian Alcopops Tax and National Chlamydia Rates among Young People—an Interrupted Time Series Analysis

Gilmore

Chikritzhs

McManus

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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A national tax increase, which became known as the “alcopops tax”, was introduced in Australia on the 27th April 2008 on ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages, which are consumed predominantly by young people. The affordability of alcohol has been identified as the strongest environmental driver of alcohol consumption, and alcohol consumption is a well-known risk factor in the spread of sexually transmitted infections via its association with sexual risk-taking. We conducted a study to investigate whether there was any association between the introduction of the tax and changes in national chlamydia rates: (i) notification rates (diagnoses per 100,000 population; primary outcome and standard approach in alcohol taxation studies), and (ii) test positivity rates (diagnoses per 100 tests; secondary outcome) among 15–24 and 25–34-year-olds, using interrupted time series analysis. Gender- and age-specific chlamydia trends among those 35 and older were applied as internal control series and gender- and age-specific consumer price index-adjusted per capita income trends were controlled for as independent variables. We hypothesised that the expected negative association between the tax and chlamydia notification rates might be masked due to increasing chlamydia test counts over the observation period (2000 to 2016). We hypothesised that the association between the tax and chlamydia test positivity rates would occur as an immediate level decrease, as a result of a decrease in alcohol consumption, which, in turn, would lead to a decrease in risky sexual behaviour and, hence, chlamydia transmission. None of the gender and age-specific population-based rates indicated a significant immediate or lagged association with the tax. However, we found an immediate decrease in test positivity rates for 25–34-year-old males (27% reduction—equivalent to 11,891 cases prevented post-tax) that remained detectable up to a lag of six months and a decrease at a lag of six months for 15–24-year-old males (31% reduction—equivalent to 16,615 cases prevented) following the tax. For no other gender or age combination did the change in test positivity rates reach significance. This study adds to the evidence base supporting the use of alcohol taxation to reduce health-related harms experienced by young people and offers a novel method for calculating sexually transmitted infection rates for policy evaluation.

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Letter Regarding Maryland Alcohol Sales Tax and Sexually Transmitted Infections

Middelbeek

Veuger

2016

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

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Maryland Alcohol Sales Tax and Sexually Transmitted Infections

Abstract: Results strengthen the evidence from prior studies of alcohol taxes influencing gonorrhea rates and extend health prevention effects from alcohol excise to sales taxes. Alcohol tax increases may be an efficient strategy for reducing sexually transmitted infections.

Cited by 17 publications

References 36 publications

Effect of Maryland’s 2011 Alcohol Sales Tax Increase on Alcohol-Positive Driving

Effect of Maryland’s 2011 Alcohol Sales Tax Increase on Alcohol-Positive Driving

The Association between the Australian Alcopops Tax and National Chlamydia Rates among Young People—an Interrupted Time Series Analysis

Letter Regarding Maryland Alcohol Sales Tax and Sexually Transmitted Infections

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