QTc prolongation in adolescents with acute alcohol intoxication.

In adults, alcohol intoxication is associated with prolongation of the QT interval corrected for heart rate (QTc). The QTc is influenced by age and sex. Although alcohol intoxication is increasingly common in adolescents, there are no data on the prevalence of QTc prolongation in adolescents with alcohol intoxication.

The co-occurrence of mental disorders among Dutch adolescents admitted for acute alcohol intoxication.

Adolescents with substance use disorders are often diagnosed with co-occurring mental disorders. However, it is unknown if adolescent hospital admission for acute alcohol intoxication is also associated with co-occurring mental disorders. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of co-occurring mental disorders among Dutch adolescents admitted for acute alcohol intoxication.

How logical is safety? An institutional logics perspective on safety at work.

Background: Occupational incidents and accidents are still commonplace in the contemporary workplace, despite increased understandings of safety.

Objective: This article aims to yield new insights into safety-related thinking, decisions and behaviours through the application of an institutional logics perspective.

Method: Semi-structured interviews with twenty-two managers in a railroad construction and maintenance organisation were conducted, in which a variety of topics related to occupational safety and management were discussed.

Age at First Alcohol Use as a Possible Risk Factor for Adolescent Acute Alcohol Intoxication Hospital Admission in the Netherlands.

Background: The primary objective of this study is to determine whether age at first alcohol use is a determinant for adolescent acute alcohol intoxication characteristics, such as age at first acute alcohol intoxication and blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at hospital admission. Around the world, as in the Netherlands, a key aim of alcohol policy is to postpone the age at first alcohol use. This is based on cohort studies that indicate a relationship between a younger age at first alcohol use and subsequent adult alcohol use disorders.

The role of consumer age and financial profit in vendor compliance for underage alcohol sales.

Age limit restriction for risky products is widely implemented as an instrument to improve public health. To study reasons for vendor (non-)compliance this 2 (underage vs. adult consumer) × 2 (low vs.

Served straight up: Effects of verticality cues on taste evaluations and luxury perceptions.

Based on the embodied cognition framework and research addressing transfer effects between visual perception and taste, the point of departure for this study is the widespread association between vertical orientation and connotations related to luxury and (economic) power. Specifically, this study tests whether vertical orientation not only affects impressions of product luxury, but also influences actual taste evaluations, including perceptions of taste strength (intensity) and taste liking. Results confirm these predictions by showing that participants in a Dutch coffee house gave higher ratings on these constructs when they were exposed to an ad display depicting vertically-oriented rather than horizontally-oriented visual cues during a coffee sample test.

[Ten years of alcohol intoxication among young people in The Netherlands].

Objective: To provide insight into the number of adolescents admitted to hospital with alcohol intoxication in the period 2007-2016.

Design: Observational cross-sectional study.

Methods: We used data from the hospital admissions for alcohol intoxication among minors that had been reported to the Dutch Paediatric Surveillance System (NSCK).

Determinants of safety outcomes and performance: A systematic literature review of research in four high-risk industries.

Introduction: In spite of increasing governmental and organizational efforts, organizations still struggle to improve the safety of their employees as evidenced by the yearly 2.3 million work-related deaths worldwide. Occupational safety research is scattered and inaccessible, especially for practitioners.

The effectiveness of ID readers and remote age verification in enhancing compliance with the legal age limit for alcohol.

Currently, two different age verification systems (AVS) are implemented to enhance compliance with legal age limits for the sale of alcohol in the Netherlands. In this study, we tested the operational procedures and effectiveness of ID readers and remote age verification technology in supermarkets during the sale of alcohol. Following a trained alcohol purchase protocol, eight mystery shoppers (both underage and in the branch's reference age) conducted 132 alcohol purchase attempts in stores that were equipped with ID readers or remote age verification or were part of a control group.

Alcohol sales to underage buyers in the Netherlands in 2011 and 2013.

Purpose: Measuring vendors' compliance and possible change in compliance with the legal age limits on alcohol sales in 2011 and 2013.

Methods: In 2011 and 2013, representative mystery shopping studies were conducted. In total, 2,737 underage mystery shopping alcohol purchase attempts were conducted both in off-premise (supermarkets, liquor stores, and take away restaurants) and on-premise (bars and sports bars) outlets as well as from alcohol home delivery services.

Remote age verification to prevent underage alcohol sales. First results from Dutch liquor stores and the economic viability of national adoption.

Objectives: Alcohol consumption among minors is a popular topic in the public health debate, also in the Netherlands. Compliance with the legal age limits for selling alcohol proves to be rather low. Some Dutch liquor stores (outlets with an exclusive license to sell off-premise drinks with 15% alcohol or more) have recently adopted a remote age verification system.

Druggists and pharmacists as gatekeepers: sales routines and compliance with sales protocols for over-the-counter naproxen 275 mg medicines in the Netherlands.

Objectives: Since for the sales of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, prescribing physicians are not involved, and written instructions on/in the medicine boxes are inefficient, druggists and pharmacists are important gatekeepers in preventing customers' accidents. In this study we investigated the sales routines, and compliance with sales protocols, in order to evaluate that gatekeeper's function.

Methods: By means of the mystery shopping method, 228 pharmacies and drugstores in The Netherlands were visited and a naproxen 275mg medium-risk medicine was requested for a (fictitious) patient who was suffering from severe back pains.

Underage alcohol sales--it only takes a minute: a new approach to underage alcohol availability.

Objective: Because minors generally report higher accessibility than one would expect on the basis of the "compliance rates" established by researchers (the percentage of stores that comply with age limits for sales of age-restricted products such as alcoholic beverages), we propose a new method to better depict the availability of age-restricted products for minors as an alternative to the compliance approach, which in our view is too narrow.

Method: Underage mystery shoppers were assigned to buy alcohol in a store of their preference, using any (legally allowed) purchase method. The time required to buy alcohol was the main outcome variable.

Gender, age, and educational level attribute to blood alcohol concentration in hospitalized intoxicated adolescents; a cohort study.

Background: The prevalence of adolescents hospitalized with acute alcohol intoxication, mainly because of severe reduced consciousness, is increasing. However, the characteristics of these adolescents are mainly unidentified. In this clinical research, we aimed to identify factors that attribute to higher ethanol concentration, on which targeted alcohol health interventions can be designed.

One more beer? Serving alcohol to pseudo-intoxicated guests in bars.

Background: Consuming large quantities of alcohol might result in negative consequences for both individual drinkers (alcohol dependency and addiction) and society (violence, traffic crashes). In order to decrease the prevalence of alcohol abuse, many countries have adopted regulations prohibiting the catering industry to serve alcohol to intoxicated guests. This article investigated compliance with these regulations in the Netherlands.

Reading between the lines: a comparison of 480 German and Dutch obituaries.

Obituaries do not only announce the death of a significant other but also provide insights into how a society deals with death according to the norms governing the rituals of individuals within that society. This study aimed at investigating possible differences between German and Dutch obituaries, specifically in terms of visual and textual elements, information about the deceased, and funeral ceremony-related information. Data used to address the research questions were the contents of 240 German and 240 Dutch obituaries published in 10 different newspapers (6 in Germany, 4 in The Netherlands).

Young poker faces: compliance with the legal age limit on multiple gambling products in the Netherlands.

Gambling is an activity that can be performed on-premise (slot machines in casinos, bars and restaurants) or off-premise (scratch cards and lottery tickets). Although the addictive potential may depend on the specific gambling product, early onset increases the likelihood for future pathological gambling. To delay the onset of gambling behavior and to reduce gambling-related problems, many countries have introduced age limits that should decrease the availability of gambling products to underage individuals.

Improving shop floor compliance with age restrictions for alcohol sales: effectiveness of a feedback letter intervention.

Purpose: In this study, we investigated the effects and handling of an intervention to increase compliance with age limits regarding alcohol sales. The intervention tested in this field experiment was a feedback letter sent to alcohol outlets about their individual compliance results based on a mystery shopping study.

Method: We measured compliance in 146 alcohol outlets (cafeterias, supermarkets, bars, liquor stores and youth centres) in one region in the Netherlands with 15-year-old mystery shoppers.

Dutch adolescent private drinking places: prevalence, alcohol consumption, and other risk behaviors.

The aim of this research was to explore the increasingly popular Dutch health phenomenon of 'gathering in private peer group settings (barracks)', with a focus on the prevalence and characteristics of barracks, alcohol consumption, and other (risk) behaviors of their visitors. Three studies were conducted. The first consisted of field research in which 51 barracks were visited and group-interviews were held.

Private peer group settings as an environmental determinant of alcohol use in Dutch adolescents: results from a representative survey in the region of Twente.

This study supports the hypothesis that the drinking setting can be an environmental risk factor for hazardous alcohol use. In a survey of Dutch adolescents (n = 1516), alcohol consumption and participation in private peer group settings (PPSs), environments where adolescents meet and drink alcohol without direct adult supervision, were measured. After controlling for demographic variables, adolescents visiting PPSs as compared to non-visitors, appeared to have a significantly higher lifetime prevalence of alcohol use, average weekly consumption, and frequency of heavy episodic drinking.

Why should I comply? Sellers' accounts for (non-)compliance with legal age limits for alcohol sales.

Background: Availability is an important predictor of early and excessive alcohol consumption by adolescents. Many countries have implemented age limits to prevent underage purchases of alcohol. However, shop-floor compliance with these age limits appears to be problematic.