Estimated Deaths Attributable to Excessive Alcohol Use Among US Adults Aged 20 to 64 Years
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2798004
November 1, 2022
Estimated Deaths Attributable to Excessive Alcohol Use Among US Adults Aged 20 to 64 Years, 2015 to 2019
Marissa B. Esser, PhD1; Gregory Leung, PhD1; Adam Sherk, PhD2; Michele K. Bohm, MPH1; Yong Liu, MD1; Hua Lu, MS1; Timothy S. Naimi, MD2
JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(11):e2239485. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.39485
Key Points
Question What is the estimated proportion of deaths among US adults aged 20 to 64 years attributable to excessive alcohol consumption, and are there differences by sex, age, and US state?
Findings
The estimates in this cross-sectional study of 694 660 mean deaths per year between 2015 and 2019 suggest that excessive alcohol consumption accounted for 12.9% of total deaths among adults aged 20 to 64 years and 20.3% of deaths among adults aged 20 to 49 years. Among adults aged 20 to 64 years, the proportion of alcohol-attributable deaths to total deaths varied by state.
Meaning
These findings suggest that an estimated 1 in 8 deaths among adults aged 20 to 64 years were attributable to excessive alcohol use and that greater implementation of evidence-based alcohol policies could reduce this proportion.
Abstract
Importance Alcohol consumption is a leading preventable cause of death in the US, and death rates from fully alcohol-attributable causes (eg, alcoholic liver disease) have increased in the past decade, including among adults aged 20 to 64 years. However, a comprehensive assessment of alcohol-attributable deaths among this population, including from partially alcohol-attributable causes, is lacking.
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