Recently Published Works

Lange, S., Jiang, H., Bagge, C., Probst, C., Tran, A., & Rehm, J. (accepted). Gender-specific risk relationship between heavy alcohol use/alcohol use disorders and suicidal thoughts and behavior among adults in the United States over time. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

There is a well-known link between heavy alcohol use/alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and suicidal thoughts and behaviors; all of which have been on the rise in the United States (US) in recent years.  In this paper we were interested in exploring whether heavy alcohol use and AUDs could be driving the increasing rate of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in the US via one potential mechanism–an increase in the risk relationship over time. Individual-level annual data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health for the past 12 years (2008-2019) were used.  We found that heavy alcohol use/AUDs were associated with elevated odds of past-year suicidal thoughts and attempted suicide for both men and women; however, an increase in the risk relationships over time was not found. 

Tran A., Jiang H., Lange S., Manthey J., Štelemėkas M., Badaras R., Petkevičienė J., Radišauskas R., Room R., Rehm J., (2021). Can alcohol control policies reduce liver cirrhosis mortality? An interrupted time-series analysis in Lithuania. Liver International. doi: 10.1111/liv.15151

Liver cirrhosis is a chronic condition with a high attribution to alcohol consumption.  Despite being a chronic condition, we investigated whether liver cirrhosis mortality rates might be immediately affected by three alcohol policies that were expected to have a high impact on alcohol consumption and alcohol-attributable harm (see Rehm et al., 2021; #14).  We employed an interrupted time-series analysis methodology, which controls for autocorrelation and seasonality, while also controlling for economic confounders (GDP).  The main goal was to test whether taxation policies in 2008 and 2017, and an availability restriction policy in 2018, reduced liver cirrhosis mortality.  The results showed that the two taxation policies significantly reduced liver cirrhosis deaths.  These findings add to the literature supporting the link between liver cirrhosis mortality and alcohol consumption at a population level, and also demonstrate that there can be immediate reductions in liver cirrhosis mortality following the implementation of alcohol control policies.

Rehm, J., Štelemėkas, M., Ferreira-Borges, C., Jiang, H., Lange, S., Neufeld, M., Room, R., Casswell, S., Tran, A., & Manthey, J. (2021).  Classifying alcohol control policies with respect to expected changes in consumption and alcohol-attributable harm: the example of Lithuania. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, 2419.  doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052419

Due to the high levels of alcohol use, detrimental drinking patterns, alcohol-attributable mortality and burden of disease, Lithuania implemented a series of alcohol control policies within a relatively short period of time, between 2008/2009 and 2014-2019.  Based on their expected impact on alcohol consumption and alcohol-attributable harm, as well as their target population, these policies have been classified using a set of objective criteria and, alternatively, expert opinion.  The classification criteria included: positive vs. negative outcomes, mainly immediate vs. delayed outcomes, and general population vs. specific group outcomes.  The judgement of the alcohol policy experts converged on the objective criteria, and, as a result, two tiers of intervention were identified: Tier 1—highly effective general population interventions with an anticipated immediate impact; Tier 2—other interventions aimed at the general population.  In addition, interventions directed at specific populations were identified.  This adaptable methodological approach to alcohol control policy classification is intended to provide guidance and support for the evaluation of alcohol policies elsewhere, to lay the foundation for the critical assessment of the policies to improve health and increase life expectancy, and to reduce crime and violence.

Radišauskas, R., Kim, K.V., Lange, S., Liutkutė-Gumarov, V., Meščeriakova-Veliulienė, O., Petkevičienė, J., Štelemėkas, M., Telksnys, T., Tran, A., & Rehm, J. (2021). Cardiovascular diseases mortality and alcohol control policy in Lithuania: exploring a possible link. BMC Public Health, 21(1, 2116. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-12177-7

Lithuania possesses one of the highest alcohol per capita consumption and has previously implemented alcohol control policies to reduce the alcohol-attributable burden. The aim of this study was to investigate Lithuanian cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality rate trends between 2001 and 2018 and to explore a possible link between CVD mortality rate and alcohol control policy implementation. Yearly mortality rates for all CVDs, IHD, cerebrovascular diseases and ACM have declined in Lithuania between 2001 and 2018, and declining trends were more prominent in women than in men. Among the ICD-10 CVD categories investigated, the points of inflection identified for the ACM mortality rate trend coincided best with the selected alcohol policy enactment dates.

Neufeld, M., Bobrova, A., Davletov, K., Štelemėkas, M., Stoppel, R., Ferreira-Borges, C., Breda, J., & Rehm, J. (2021).  Alcohol control policies in Former Soviet Union countries – a narrative review of three decades of policy changes and their apparent effects.  Drug and Alcohol Review, 40(3), 350–367.  doi: 10.1111/dar.13204

This narrative review sheds light on recent drinking trends and alcohol policy developments in the 15 Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries, highlighting the most important setbacks, achievements and best practices over the past 30 years.  Strong declines in alcohol consumption were observed in the 15 FSU countries, which have introduced various alcohol control measures in recent years, resulting in a reduction of alcohol consumption in the World Health Organization European region overall.  The so-called three ‘best buys’ put forward by the World Health Organization to reduce alcohol-attributable burden (taxation and other measures to increase price, restrictions on alcohol availability and marketing) are relatively well implemented across the countries.  In recent years, these evidence-based alcohol policies have been actively implemented in response to the enormous alcohol-attributable burden in many of the countries, although there is big variance across and within different jurisdictions.