Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK.
SPECTRUM Consortium, Edinburgh, UK.
Drug Alcohol Rev. 2024 Jul;43(5):1160-1171. doi: 10.1111/dar.13838. Epub 2024 Mar 21.
The last 3 years have seen substantial changes in Great Britain (GB) including the COVID-19 pandemic, cost-of-living crisis and policy changes such as minimum unit pricing. We examined changes in purchasing cross-border, illicit and home-brewed alcohol among risky drinkers over this period.
Data were used from 22,086 adult (≥18 years) increasing/higher-risk drinkers (AUDIT-C ≥5) participating in a monthly cross-sectional survey between October 2020 and August 2023. We estimated time trends in the proportion reporting obtaining alcohol from: (i) cross-border (any/within-GB/international); (ii) illicit; and (iii) home-brewed sources in the past 6 months.
Between October 2020 and August 2023, the proportion reporting cross-border alcohol purchases increased (from 8.5% to 12.5% overall; prevalence ratio [PR] = 1.47 [95% CI 1.17-1.86]). This was largely driven by an increase in cross-border purchases abroad (PR = 1.52 [1.13-2.05]), with a smaller, uncertain increase in cross-border purchases within GB (PR = 1.37 [0.96-1.95]). The prevalence of cross-border alcohol purchasing was higher in Wales (13.8% [12.3-15.4%]) and Scotland (6.1% [5.4-6.8%]) than England (3.6% [3.3-3.9%]). There was little change in illicit alcohol purchasing in England or Wales (4.1% [3.7-4.4%]; 4.2% [3.2-5.1%]), but in Scotland it fell from 5.7% to 2.4% (PR = 0.42 [0.19-0.81]). Home-brewed alcohol was rare (GB: 3.1% [2.9-3.4]) and stable.
The proportion of increasing/higher-risk drinkers in GB purchasing cross-border alcohol increased between October 2020 and August 2023, due to an increase in people buying alcohol abroad. Cross-border alcohol purchases within GB were more commonly reported in Wales and Scotland. The small proportion purchasing illicit alcohol did not change substantially in England or Wales, but fell by half in Scotland.
在过去的 3 年中，英国发生了重大变化，包括 COVID-19 大流行、生活成本危机和最低单位定价等政策变化。我们在此期间研究了高危饮酒者跨境、非法和自酿购买酒精的变化情况。
本研究使用了 2020 年 10 月至 2023 年 8 月期间每月参加横断面调查的 22086 名成人（≥18 岁）高危饮酒者（AUDIT-C≥5）的数据。我们估计了过去 6 个月内报告从以下来源获取酒精的比例的时间趋势：（i）跨境（任何/英国境内/国际）；（ii）非法；和（iii）自酿。
在 2020 年 10 月至 2023 年 8 月期间，报告跨境酒精购买的比例有所增加（总体从 8.5%增加到 12.5%；患病率比 [PR]为 1.47 [95% CI 1.17-1.86]）。这主要是由于国外跨境购买的增加（PR=1.52 [1.13-2.05]），而英国境内的跨境购买略有增加，但不确定（PR=1.37 [0.96-1.95]）。在威尔士（13.8%[12.3-15.4%]）和苏格兰（6.1%[5.4-6.8%]），跨境购买酒精的比例高于英格兰（3.6%[3.3-3.9%]）。英格兰或威尔士非法购买酒精的情况几乎没有变化（4.1%[3.7-4.4%]；4.2%[3.2-5.1%]），但在苏格兰，这一比例从 5.7%下降到 2.4%（PR=0.42 [0.19-0.81]）。自酿酒精很少见（英国：3.1%[2.9-3.4]）且稳定。
在 2020 年 10 月至 2023 年 8 月期间，英国高危饮酒者中跨境购买酒精的比例有所增加，这是由于越来越多的人在国外购买酒精。在英国境内的跨境购买更为常见于威尔士和苏格兰。购买非法酒精的比例较小，在英格兰或威尔士没有大幅变化，但在苏格兰下降了一半。
