Arch Suicide Res. 2023 Apr-Jun;27(2):339-352. doi: 10.1080/13811118.2021.1999873. Epub 2021 Nov 13.
It is reasonable to believe that the alcohol policy environment can impact the suicide mortality rates in a given country, considering the well-known link between alcohol use and death by suicide. The current literature, albeit limited, suggests that an increase in alcohol taxation may result in a decrease in deaths by suicide and that the effect is sex-specific. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to test the impact of three alcohol control policy enactments (in 2008, 2017 and 2018) on suicide mortality among adults 25-74 years of age in Lithuania, by sex.
To estimate the unique impact of three alcohol control policies, we conducted interrupted time-series analyses by employing a generalized additive mixed model on monthly sex-specific age-standardized suicide mortality rates from January 2001 to December 2018.
Analyses showed a significant impact of the 2017 ( = 0.016) alcohol control policy on suicide mortality for men only. Specifically, we estimated that in the year following the 2017 policy enactment, approximately 57 (95% CI: 9-107) deaths by suicide were prevented among men, 25-74 years of age. The three policy enactments tested were not found to significantly impact the suicide mortality rate among women.
Alcohol control policies involving pricing, which result in a notable decrease in alcohol affordability, could be a cost-effective indirect suicide prevention mechanism in not only countries of the former Soviet Union, but in other high-income countries with a comparable health care system to that in Lithuania. HIGHLIGHTSIncreasing excise tax on alcohol was found to have a sex-specific impact on suicide mortalityThe 2017 alcohol policy prevented 57 deaths by suicide among men, 25-74 years of age, in the following yearAlcohol pricing policies may be a cost-effective indirect suicide prevention mechanism.
考虑到饮酒与自杀死亡之间的已知联系，有理由相信酒精政策环境可以影响一个国家的自杀死亡率。尽管目前的文献有限，但有研究表明，增加酒类税收可能会导致自杀死亡人数减少，而且这种影响具有性别特异性。因此，本研究的目的是检验 2008 年、2017 年和 2018 年三项酒类控制政策的颁布对立陶宛 25-74 岁成年人自杀死亡率的影响，按性别划分。
为了评估三项酒类控制政策的独特影响，我们采用广义加性混合模型，对 2001 年 1 月至 2018 年 12 月期间每月按性别和年龄标准化的自杀死亡率进行了中断时间序列分析。
分析表明，2017 年的酒类控制政策（ = 0.016）仅对男性的自杀死亡率有显著影响。具体而言，我们估计，在 2017 年政策颁布后的一年中，25-74 岁的男性中约有 57 人（95%CI：9-107）避免了自杀死亡。测试的三项政策都没有发现对女性的自杀死亡率有显著影响。
涉及酒类定价的酒类控制政策，如果显著降低酒类的可负担性，可能成为一种具有成本效益的间接预防自杀机制，不仅在前苏联国家，而且在立陶宛等具有类似医疗保健系统的其他高收入国家都可以采用。
提高酒类消费税被发现对自杀死亡率有性别特异性影响。
2017 年的酒类政策在随后的一年里预防了 57 名 25-74 岁男性的自杀死亡。
酒类定价政策可能是一种具有成本效益的间接预防自杀机制。
