Alcohol prices, the April effect, and the environment, in violence-related injury in England and Wales.

Violent injury varies widely across England and Wales as does the price of alcohol. While the links between alcohol consumption and violence are well established in the medical and epidemiological literature, a causal link is questionable. This paper cuts through the causative argument by reporting a link between the general price of alcohol and violence-related injury across the economic regions of England and Wales.

Preventing violence-related injuries in England and Wales: a panel study examining the impact of on-trade and off-trade alcohol prices.

Objective: To examine the influence of real on-trade and off-trade alcohol prices and socioeconomic and environmental factors on rates of violence-related emergency department (ED) attendances in England and Wales over an 8-year period.

Methods: Anonymised injury data which included attendance date, age and gender of patients aged over 18 years who reported injury in violence were collected from a structured sample of 100 EDs across England and Wales between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2012. Alcohol prices and socioeconomic measures were obtained from the UK Office for National Statistics.