Publications by authors named "Laura Miscikiene"

Background: The national lockdowns that occurred all over the world in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have been found to have impacted alcohol use. The aim was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19-related national lockdowns on alcohol-related traffic collisions, injuries, and fatalities in Lithuania.

Methods: Using monthly data from the Lithuanian Road Police Service for January 2004 to December 2022, we performed interrupted time-series analyses using a generalized additive model to evaluate the impact of COVID-19-related national lockdowns on alcohol-related traffic collisions, injuries, and fatalities.

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Background: Consumption of alcohol is a risk factor for non-communicable and infectious diseases, mental health problems, and can lead injuries and violence. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of alcohol-involved deaths among decedents who died of external causes and underwent autopsy in Lithuania.

Methods: Study includes age persons of any age (from 0 to 110 years) who died and were autopsied in Lithuania from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2020.

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Alcohol use is a major risk factor for burden of disease. This narrative review aims to document the effects of major alcohol control policies, in particular taxation increases and availability restrictions in the three Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) between 2000 and 2020. These measures have been successful in curbing alcohol sales, in general without increasing consumption of alcoholic beverages from unrecorded sources; although for more recent changes this may have been partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Background: The Baltic countries-Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia-are characterized by a high rate of fully alcohol-attributable mortality, compared with Poland. Alcohol control policy measures implemented since 2001 in the Baltic countries included a restriction on availability and an increase in excise taxation, among others. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the relationship between alcohol control policy implementation and alcohol-attributable mortality in the Baltic countries and Poland.

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The aim of the study was to estimate unrecorded alcohol consumption in Lithuania for the period 2000-2021 using an indirect method for modelling consumption based on official consumption data and indicators of alcohol-related harm. Methodology employed for estimating the unrecorded alcohol consumption was proposed by Norström and was based on the country's 2019 European Health Interview Survey and indicators of fully alcohol-attributable mortality. The proportion of unrecorded alcohol consumption was estimated as 8.

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Alcohol consumption in the Baltic countries and Poland is among the highest globally, causing high all-cause mortality rates. Contrary to Poland, the Baltic countries have adopted many alcohol control policies, including the World Health Organization (WHO) "best buys". The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of these policies, which were implemented between 2001 and 2020, on all-cause mortality.

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Background: According to the Lithuanian law to prevent the sale of alcohol to customers below the legal minimum purchasing age of 20 years, young adults below 25 years must be asked to show an age-verification document when purchasing alcohol. The aim of this study was to assess whether off-premise outlets comply with the law.

Methods: In 2022, mystery-shopping study was carried out in three consecutive phases: (i) in a representative sample (n = 239) of off-premise alcohol outlets covering all Lithuanian district centres, (ii) after lifting the requirement to wear a mask and (iii) after warning the outlets that a mystery-shopping study was ongoing.

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Introduction: For decades in Lithuania, the threat of illicit trade has been used to weaken evidence-based tobacco-control policies and to undermine efforts to reduce smoking prevalence and its attributable burden, while also depriving the government of much-needed tax revenue. The aim of this study is to estimate the size of the illicit cigarette market in Lithuania using data from a nationally representative discarded pack collection.

Aims And Methods: The study employed a two-stage cluster design by first randomly selecting 65 well-defined population settlements (30 cities and 35 townships), representing both urban and rural areas, in all 10 counties in Lithuania.

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Aims: The study's aim is to identify and classify the most important alcohol control policies in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and Poland between 2000 and 2020.

Methods: Policy analysis of Baltic countries and Poland, predicting potential policy impact on alcohol consumption, all-cause mortality and alcohol-attributable hospitalizations was discussed.

Results: All Baltic countries implemented stringent availability restrictions on off-premises trading hours and different degrees of taxation increases to reduce the affordability of alcoholic beverages, as well as various degrees of bans on alcohol marketing.

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Background: Many population-based alcohol control policies are postulated to work via changes in adult alcohol per capita consumption (APC). However, since APC is usually assessed on a yearly basis, often there are not enough data to conduct interrupted time-series or other controlled analyses. The current dataset, with 21 years of observation from four countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland), had sufficient power to test for average effects and potential interactions of the World Health Organization's (WHO) three "best buys" for alcohol control: taxation increases leading to a decrease in affordability; reduced availability (via a decrease in opening hours of at least 20 %); and advertising and marketing restrictions.

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Alcohol advertising exposure is a risk factor for earlier alcohol initiation and higher alcohol consumption. Furthermore, engagement in digital alcohol marketing, such as liking or sharing an ad on social media, is associated with increased alcohol consumption and binge or hazardous drinking behavior. In light of these challenges, Lithuania has enacted a total prohibition on alcohol advertising, including social media.

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The Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania shared a similar response to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the information available on the COVID-19 Health System Response Monitor platform, this article analyzed measures taken to prevent transmission, ensure capacity, provide essential services, finance the health system, and coordinate their governance approaches. All three countries used a highly centralized approach and implemented restrictive measures relatively early, with a state of emergency declared with fewer than 30 reported cases in each country.

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Article Synopsis
  • Many countries adjusted provider payment mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on compensating income loss and covering extra costs for hospitals and healthcare professionals.
  • Countries with salary or capitation models didn't face income loss issues, while those with activity-based payments used higher fees and budgets to address the financial impacts.
  • The study concludes that public payers bore most financial risks, and future pandemic preparedness should involve rapid adjustment capabilities, awareness of economic incentives, and regular evaluations of payment impact on care quality and access.
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Taxation policies are the most cost-effective measure to reduce overall tobacco consumption. However, cigarettes in Lithuania are among the cheapest in the European Union. The threat of the illicit trade is often used to compromise evidence-based policies, pricing policies particularly.

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Since the early 1990s, Lithuania has experienced an increasing level of alcohol consumption and a heavy burden of alcohol-related harm, which is associated with the development of alcohol policies. The aim of this analysis was to provide a chronology of change of Lithuanian alcohol control legislation and to present several other detailed examples of the political processes. The data were collected using document reviews.

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Introduction And Aims: Systematic monitoring of the parliamentary legislative processes, including voting of members of the Parliament (MPs) and factions, allows better understanding of the mechanisms for adoption of public health policies. The aim of this paper is to present a tool for monitoring voting on tobacco and alcohol control policies in the Lithuanian Parliament and consequent rating of MPs based on their voting.

Design And Methods: MP rating included the collection of voting data, qualitative assessment of the proposed amendments based on their potentially positive or negative impact on public health, and finally quantitative analysis of voting by applying certain weight coefficients.

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