An investigation into patterns of Alcohol drinking in Scotland after the introduction of minimum unit pricing.
Journal
PloS one
ISSN: 1932-6203
Titre abrégé: PLoS One
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 101285081
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
2024
2024
Historique:
received:
22
05
2024
accepted:
18
07
2024
medline:
1
8
2024
pubmed:
1
8
2024
entrez:
1
8
2024
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
In 2018, Scotland became the second country to implement minimum unit pricing (MUP) for all types of alcoholic beverages. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the policy. Three national household-level surveys were used: Scottish Health Surveys (2008-2021), Health Surveys in England (2011-2019), and Northern Ireland Continuous Household Survey (2011-2015). First, a generalized ordered logistic model examined patterns of drinking solely in Scotland from 2008-2021 covering current drinking, drinking categories and the weekly consumption (in alcohol units). Secondly, difference-in-difference (DID) analysis was employed to examine changes in "social drinking" behaviours in Scotland after the announcement in 2012 (2011-2015, Northern Ireland and England as comparators) and after the adoption of the policy in 2018 (England as a comparator, with two timeframes 2016-2019 and 2013-2019). Overall, drinking in Scotland began to decline prior to 2012 and dropped further with the enactment of MUP in 2018. In response to MUP, the likelihood of abstention increased along with a slight decrease in the prevalence of heavy drinking. The overall amount of drinking fell by about 8% after 2012 and 12% after 2018 (as compared to 2008-2011 level), with a significant decline seen in moderate drinkers but not of those who drank at hazardous or harmful levels. The DID analyses confirmed the reduction in current drinking in Scotland starting since 2012 and continued post-MUP in 2018. This study points to the impact of MUP in Scotland with a potential role for 'policy signalling' by the Scottish Government's with a multiple-buy discount ban and MUP's announcement since 2011-2012. Indications of impact include a clear decline in alcohol consumption levels and a small but noteworthy change in prevalence of overall drinking and heavy drinking.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
In 2018, Scotland became the second country to implement minimum unit pricing (MUP) for all types of alcoholic beverages. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the policy.
METHOD
METHODS
Three national household-level surveys were used: Scottish Health Surveys (2008-2021), Health Surveys in England (2011-2019), and Northern Ireland Continuous Household Survey (2011-2015). First, a generalized ordered logistic model examined patterns of drinking solely in Scotland from 2008-2021 covering current drinking, drinking categories and the weekly consumption (in alcohol units). Secondly, difference-in-difference (DID) analysis was employed to examine changes in "social drinking" behaviours in Scotland after the announcement in 2012 (2011-2015, Northern Ireland and England as comparators) and after the adoption of the policy in 2018 (England as a comparator, with two timeframes 2016-2019 and 2013-2019).
RESULTS
RESULTS
Overall, drinking in Scotland began to decline prior to 2012 and dropped further with the enactment of MUP in 2018. In response to MUP, the likelihood of abstention increased along with a slight decrease in the prevalence of heavy drinking. The overall amount of drinking fell by about 8% after 2012 and 12% after 2018 (as compared to 2008-2011 level), with a significant decline seen in moderate drinkers but not of those who drank at hazardous or harmful levels. The DID analyses confirmed the reduction in current drinking in Scotland starting since 2012 and continued post-MUP in 2018.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSIONS
This study points to the impact of MUP in Scotland with a potential role for 'policy signalling' by the Scottish Government's with a multiple-buy discount ban and MUP's announcement since 2011-2012. Indications of impact include a clear decline in alcohol consumption levels and a small but noteworthy change in prevalence of overall drinking and heavy drinking.
Identifiants
pubmed: 39088518
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308218
pii: PONE-D-24-20705
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
e0308218Informations de copyright
Copyright: © 2024 Nguyen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.