Changes in the availability of alcohol affect drinking levels and problems and thus the rates of health and social problems. Whose drinking is affected by such changes, and how much and under what circumstances, are important but understudied questions for public health policy. The project studies the short- and medium-term effects of (1) a 45% reduction in Denmark and 44% reduction in Finland in taxes on spirits, along with lesser reductions in other alcohol taxes in Finland; and (2) substantial increases in traveler's allowances for personal alcohol imports in Finland, Sweden and Denmark. Cross-border purchasing by those near a neighboring country is expected to increase substantially in southern Sweden, and to change also in Denmark and Finland, with changes hypothesized to follow a gravity model of decrease with distance from the border. Probability samples of the population aged 16-80 in Denmark, Sweden and Finland are to be interviewed concerning alcohol purchasing and drinking patterns and alcohol-related problems prior to the changes, and then reinterviewed annually one, two and three years after the initial interview. New ? samples are also interviewed at each wave of interviewing to control for interview effects and attrition in the longitudinal samples. The northern part of Sweden is used as a control site to study the effects of the changes in taxes in Finland and Denmark and of the changes in traveler's allowances in southern Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Short-run and longer-run effects of changes in taxes and availability will be estimated for different segments of the population, including heavier vs. lighter drinkers. The compatibility of the results with theories of rational addiction will be tested. The longitudinal data in a period of expected overall change in drinking levels will test and contribute to refining the theory of the collectivity of drinking cultures -- that, when changes occur, population groups move in concert up and down the consumption scale. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AA014879-04
Application #
7337623
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-HOP-J (90))
Program Officer
Bloss, Gregory
Project Start
2005-02-01
Project End
2009-12-31
Budget Start
2008-01-01
Budget End
2009-12-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$230,407
Indirect Cost
Name
Stockholm University
Department
Type
DUNS #
350582276
City
Stockholm
State
Country
Sweden
Zip Code
S-106-91
Grittner, Ulrike; Gmel, Gerhard; Ripatti, Samuli et al. (2011) Missing value imputation in longitudinal measures of alcohol consumption. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 20:50-61
Herttua, Kimmo; Makela, Pia; Martikainen, Pekka (2011) The effects of a large reduction in alcohol prices on hospitalizations related to alcohol: a population-based natural experiment. Addiction 106:759-67
Gustafsson, Nina-Katri J; Ramstedt, Mats R (2011) Changes in alcohol-related harm in Sweden after increasing alcohol import quotas and a Danish tax decrease--an interrupted time-series analysis for 2000-2007. Int J Epidemiol 40:432-40
Herttua, Kimmo; Makela, Pia; Martikainen, Pekka (2011) An evaluation of the impact of a large reduction in alcohol prices on alcohol-related and all-cause mortality: time series analysis of a population-based natural experiment. Int J Epidemiol 40:441-54
Gustafsson, Nina-Katri (2010) Changes in alcohol availability, price and alcohol-related problems and the collectivity of drinking cultures: what happened in southern and northern Sweden? Alcohol Alcohol 45:456-67
Bloomfield, Kim; Wicki, Matthias; Gustafsson, Nina-Katri et al. (2010) Changes in alcohol-related problems after alcohol policy changes in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 71:32-40
Gustafsson, Nina-Katri J (2010) Alcohol consumption in southern Sweden after major decreases in Danish spirits taxes and increases in Swedish travellers' quotas. Eur Addict Res 16:152-61
Makela, Pia; Huhtanen, Petri (2010) The effect of survey sampling frame on coverage: the level of and changes in alcohol-related mortality in Finland as a test case. Addiction 105:1935-41
Mäkelä, Pia; Osterberg, Esa (2009) Weakening of one more alcohol control pillar: a review of the effects of the alcohol tax cuts in Finland in 2004. Addiction 104:554-63
Grittner, Ulrike; Bloomfield, Kim (2009) Changes in private alcohol importation after alcohol tax reductions and import allowance increases in Denmark. Nordisk Alkohol Nark 26:177-191

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