Patterns and trends in alcohol-related hospitalizations in Victoria, Australia, 1987/88-1995/96.

The objective of this study was to examine patterns and yearly trends in alcohol-related hospitalization rates during the period 1987/88-1995/96 for men and women living in metropolitan and rural/remote Victoria. Alcohol-related hospitalizations were extracted from the Victorian Inpatient Minimum Dataset (VMD) for the years 1987/88-1995/96 (public hospitals) and 1993/94-1995/96 (private hospitals), and adjusted by the appropriate aetiological fractions. Sex-specific age-adjusted rates we expressed per 10000 residents/year.

Towards a standardised methodology for estimating alcohol-caused death, injury and illness in Australia.

Two key methodological issues underlying different methods for calculating estimates of the number of alcohol-caused deaths are identified and recommendations suggested for future work. 1. How to adjust alcohol aetiologic fractions across time and place to reflect different levels of risky drinking.

Estimated alcohol-caused deaths in Australia, 1990-97.

The purpose of the study was to provide updated estimates of alcohol-caused mortality rates in Australia between 1990 and 1997, making adjustments for changes in the prevalence of high-risk alcohol use estimated on the basis of per capita alcohol consumption (PCAC). Deaths wholly and partially attributable to high-risk alcohol consumption were extracted from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Mortality Datafile (1990-1997) and multiplied by specific aetiological fractions, which in turn were adjusted by changes in the prevalence of high-risk alcohol use estimated on the basis of annual changes in PCAC. The yearly trends in age-standardized rates of estimated alcohol-caused deaths were compared with those using (i) aetiological fractions unadjusted for changes in PCAC, and (ii) wholly alcohol-caused conditions only (thus requiring no application of aetiological fractions).