Race, Ethnicity, and Exposure to Alcohol Outlets

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Objective:Prior studies suggest that Black and Hispanic minority populations are exposed to greater concentrations of alcohol outlets, potentially contributing to health disparities between these populations and the White majority. We tested the alternative hypothesis that urban economic systems cause outlets to concentrate in low-income areas and, controlling for these effects, lower demand among minority populations leads to fewer outlets. Method: Market potential for alcohol sales, a surrogate for demand, was estimated from survey and census data across census block groups for 50 California cities. Hierarchical Bayesian conditional autoregressive Poisson models then estimated relationships between observed geographic distributions of outlets and the market potential for alcohol, income, population size, and racial and ethnic composition. Results: Market potentials were significantly smaller among lower income Black, Hispanic, and Asian populations. Block groups with greater market potential and lower income had greater concentrations of outlets. When we controlled for these effects, the racial and ethnic group composition of block groups was mostly unrelated to outlet concentrations. Conclusions: Health disparities related to exposure to alcohol outlets are primarily driven by distributions of income and population density across neighborhoods. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 77, 68-76, 2016)

Review: Environmental influences on alcohol use: Informing research on the joint effects of genes and the environment in diverse U.S. populations

“…At the neighborhood level, there also is co‐occurrence with certain environmental constraints. Disadvantaged neighborhoods often contain an excess of alcohol outlets . We also note that low‐income minority communities may be more likely to have more liquor stores, while low‐income White communities may be more likely to have more bars; thus, choosing the most appropriate measure(s) of alcohol availability is essential.…”

Commentary on Gmel et al. (2015): Are alcohol outlet densities strongly associated with alcohol‐related outcomes? A critical review of recent evidence

“…Thus, after accounting for other area characteristics (e.g. population density), outlet density is greatest in lower‐income areas with low demand, and least in higher‐income areas with most demand [16]. Therefore, individual self‐reports of use will generally be least where availability is greatest; an erroneous observation of some use to the commercial alcohol industry.…”

Association between state‐level alcohol availability and taxation policies on the prevalence of alcohol‐related harms to persons other than the drinker in the USA, 2000–2015

“…The findings linking area‐level economic disadvantage to AHTO are mixed , and suggest that the associations may differ by type of AHTO or respondent demographics . Area‐level economic disadvantage also is related with alcohol availability and abstinence . Regional drinking is a covariate that classifies each state's drinking culture as wet, moderate or dry based on national survey data on the prevalence of abstinence and 5+ drinking in the past month, as well as apparent per capita ethanol consumption (based on alcohol sales and tax data) .…”