Data Analysis and Related Applications, Volume 2

23Alcohol-Related Mortality and Its Cause-Elimination in Life Tables in Selected European Countries and USA: An International Comparison

Notable differences in the levels and patterns of alcohol-related harm persist within Europe. Cultural habits of alcohol consumption were identified as one of the reasons for this diversity. Traditionally, eastern Europeans tend to drink in a more harmful way than western Europeans. This has been reflected in higher levels of alcohol-related mortality in the East. However, times do change and the transition to free-market economies has changed the old habits, including the alcohol consumption structure and drinking attitudes. As a result, we are witnessing a unifying trend across Europe. The aim of this study was to compare alcohol-related consumption and its impact on health for a subset of European countries over time. Analyses are based on validated long-term data series from the Human Cause-of-Death Database (see: www.causesofdeath.org). All-cause and alcohol-related mortality age patterns were observed for six selected countries in three periods (1980, 2000 and 2016). In addition, potential gains in life expectancy were enumerated by the elimination of alcohol-related deaths from the life tables. In all selected countries, alcohol-related mortality shows a particular age pattern with a peak at adult ages. Alcohol-related deaths occur earlier in the countries of the former socialist bloc. Alcohol-related mortality increases in the East, ...