News and Press

Scotland: A quarter of all men aged 35-44 die an alcohol-attributable death

30 Jun 2009

A new study from the NHS Information Services Division estimates that 1 in 20 deaths in Scotland are linked to alcohol use, twice as high as previously reported.

The study identifies 53 conditions that are wholly or partially attributable to alcohol, including injuries, cancers, and cardiovascular diseases. The study finds that for men and women aged 16-34 years, road traffic accidents, intentional self harm and epilepsy were among the most common causes of death, whilst for men and women over 35, alcoholic liver disease, mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use, oesophageal cancer and breast cancer (women only) were the most common causes of death attributable to alcohol consumption. Among younger age groups the majority of deaths were due to alcohol-related injuries, whereas the majority of deaths in older age groups occurred from chronic conditions wholly attributable to alcohol consumption.

This study follows the publication of international research which estimates that alcohol is responsible for 3.8% of all global deaths and 4.6% of global disability-adjusted life-years, which is on a par with smoking in 2000.
(See current issue of The Lancet, June 2009)

What is clear from both these studies - in Scotland and at a global level - is that alcohol is linked to a substantial and growing disease burden. Alcohol now represents one of the largest risk factors for premature death and disability in the world. What’s more, it is an avoidable risk factor.

We know that the burden of disease from alcohol is closely related to the amount of alcohol a population consumes and we know that to reduce the harm caused by alcohol we need to reduce population consumption. The evidence is clear that the single most effective and cost-effective way of reducing consumption and harm is by increasing the price of alcohol. This makes measures contained in the new Framework for Action for tackling alcohol misuse, including minimum pricing for alcohol, vital to cutting alcohol-related mortality in Scotland.

For more information on alcohol-attributable mortality and morbidity in Scotland, go to ISD Scotland.