Has the Impact of Population Drinking on Harm become Weaker in Sweden?

Abstract

Aims The main aim of this paper is to analyse the development in alcohol-related mortality and other indicators of alcohol-related harm for the period 1990–2005 but with focus on the recent period of rising population drinking. Data The harm indicators included are various forms of alcohol-related mortality (accidents, cirrhosis, suicide, homicide and an index of alcohol-specific mortality) and hospitalisations (index of alcohol-specific diagnoses, liver cirrhosis and alcohol poisonings) as well as alcohol-related crime indicators (police-reported assaults, drink-driving offences and police arrests for drunkenness). Data on alcohol consumption were obtained from the Swedish Monitoring survey. Results The findings confirm previous studies suggesting that recently alcohol-related mortality in general has not increased as expected with the rise in alcohol consumption. Still, a closer look revealed several indications of higher alcohol mortality today compared with the period before consumption started to increase, e.g., for liver cirrhosis, fatal accidents and alcohol-specific mortality in Southern Sweden. Further, alcohol-related hospitalisations in somatic care and hospitalisations for liver cirrhosis and alcohol poisonings have increased among both men and women and a recent upward trend was found regarding reported drink-driving offences, alcohol-related traffic accidents and violent crimes. Conclusion Taking all indicators together suggests that alcohol-related harm in Sweden today has become higher compared with the situation before population drinking started to rise in the late 1990s, though not at the expected extent for all harms. A lower level of drinking in Sweden would most likely give rise to less alcohol-related problems among men and women.