Centre for Health Economics, Monash University, Caulfield East, VIC, Australia.
Addiction. 2020 Dec;115(12):2349-2356. doi: 10.1111/add.15090. Epub 2020 May 8.
Problem gambling can lead to a myriad of harmful consequences, including unmanageable amounts of debt and serious financial problems. The aim of this study was to examine whether changes in the number of electronic gaming machine (EGM) venues within a local area (due to venue openings and closings) are associated with changes in the rates of serious financial problems.
Area-level longitudinal multivariate regressions controlling for possible confounders (fixed and time-varying local area characteristics).
Australia's three largest states (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland), during the period 2011-18.
A total of 225 local areas (Statistical Area 3 level) within the three states.
Serious financial problems were measured by administrative data on total number of personal insolvencies (bankruptcies, debt agreements and insolvency agreements) in each local area per annum. The number of EGM venues in each local area was the regressor of primary interest. Area-level covariates included the number of non-gaming pubs and clubs, unemployment rate, population count, local area dummies, local area linear time trends and a separate set of state dummies for each year.
A one-venue decrease over time within a local area decreased the number of personal insolvencies by 1.8 per year [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.4-3.2]. The result is robust to alternative specifications, including allowing for geographical spillovers (β = 2.2, 95% CI = 0.7-3.7), temporal lagged effects (β = 1.6, 95% CI = 0.6-2.8) and the spatial variability of venues within areas (β = 2.7, 95% CI = 0.9-4.5).
There is a positive association between the number of gaming venues in a local geographic area and the number of personal insolvencies in that area. Reducing the number or accessibility of gaming venues could help to reduce financial harms associated with problem gambling.
赌博问题可能导致无数有害后果，包括无法承受的债务和严重的财务问题。本研究旨在探讨当地电子游戏设备（EGM）场所数量的变化（由于场所的开业和关闭）是否与严重财务问题发生率的变化有关。
控制可能混杂因素（固定和随时间变化的当地特征）的区域水平纵向多元回归。
澳大利亚三个最大的州（新南威尔士州、维多利亚州、昆士兰州），时间为 2011-18 年。
这三个州共 225 个地方区域（统计区域 3 级）。
严重财务问题是通过每个地方区域每年个人破产（破产、债务协议和破产协议）的行政数据来衡量的。每个地方区域 EGM 场所的数量是主要关注的回归量。区域水平的协变量包括非博彩酒吧和俱乐部的数量、失业率、人口数量、区域哑变量、区域线性时间趋势以及每年为每个州设置的单独州哑变量。
在一个地方区域内，随着时间的推移，一个场所的减少导致每年个人破产减少 1.8 人[95%置信区间（CI）=0.4-3.2]。该结果在替代规格中是稳健的，包括允许地理溢出（β=2.2，95%CI=0.7-3.7）、时间滞后效应（β=1.6，95%CI=0.6-2.8）和区域内场所的空间变异性（β=2.7，95%CI=0.9-4.5）。
当地地理区域内游戏场所数量与该区域内个人破产数量之间存在正相关关系。减少游戏场所的数量或可及性可能有助于减少与赌博问题相关的财务危害。
