Quantification of Alcohol-Related Mortality in Sweden

Abstract

The main aim of the present study was to estimate total alcohol-related mortality in Sweden. For natural deaths, a meta-analysis carried out in Australia was updated to the end of March 1998, and pooled estimates of the relative risks were calculated for different diseases based on data from scientific studies that have been published in the international literature. The proportion of current alcohol drinkers from recent Swedish surveys, and the pooled relative risk estimates were used to estimate disease-specific alcohol-attributable fractions. Natural deaths 'caused' or 'prevented' by alcohol were estimated for the period 1992-1996. For unnatural deaths, all cases from 1992 through 1996 in Sweden were analysed (n = 23 132). Alcohol was regarded to attribute to the death: if the deceased was a 'known alcoholic'; if the underlying or contributing cause of death was alcohol-related; if the deceased had an alcohol-related in-patient diagnosis during a 3-year period prior to death; if the case tested positive for blood alcohol. Person years of life lost/gained (<70 years) due to alcohol were also assessed. The assumptions underlying the attributable risk methods used to analyse alcohol-related mortality due to natural causes need to be borne in mind when interpreting the results on natural deaths. Moreover, the preventive effect of alcohol on coronary heart disease and stroke is still controversial. The findings of alcohol-related mortality due to unnatural causes were much more reliable. About 3.5% of deaths were attributed to alcohol; alcohol involvement was more than twice as common in deaths of males (4.8%) than in those of females (2.0%). About one-quarter of the deaths in those aged below 50 years were attributed to alcohol. In those (</=69 years, alcohol had a net harmful effect in that it 'caused' more deaths than it 'prevented'; 7% of deaths were in net 'caused'. More person years of life were in net lost than were saved by alcohol, suggesting that alcohol has a negative effect on premature mortality. We conclude that alcohol accounted for about 3. 5% of deaths in all ages, and 25% of deaths in those aged below 50 years, and about 10% of person years of life lost in Sweden. The balance of harm and benefit does not weigh in favour of making a recommendation to the public to drink in order to prevent death.

An Analysis of Firearms-Related Deaths Between 1993-2010: A Retrospective Study

“…Bosnar [50] reported significantly high blood alcohol concentrations in suicide cases that occurred with firearms in time of war. Alcohol has been found in 62% of homicide cases in Sweden [51] and 68.6% of murder cases in Norway. [52] According to literature, in the current study, substances were identified at very low rates in the toxicological analysis.…”

Alcohol and its relationship to blood pressure

“…Meta-analysis on the relationship between coronary heart disease (CHD) and ethanol intake suggests 20% to 30% reduction in the incidents of CHD. Sjögren et al [37] quantified ethanol-related mortality in Sweden between 1992 and 1996 and found that, in men, ethanol caused 4% of deaths and prevented 5.8%, and in women, 1.4% deaths and 4.6% prevented. Overall, ethanol prevented 1.8% deaths in men and 3.2% in women.…”

How many alcoholic drinks might benefit an older person with hypertension?

“…But if the conditions in Table 2 are examined as well as cardiovascular disease, are benefits to be expected? Sjö rgren et al [24] quantified the alcohol-related mortality in Sweden between the years 1992 and 1996. The results for all natural and unnatural deaths are given in Table 3.…”