Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia.
National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6845, Australia.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2024 Jun 1;259:111317. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2024.111317. Epub 2024 Apr 26.
Wastewater analysis provides a complementary measure of alcohol use in whole communities. We assessed absolute differences and temporal trends in alcohol consumption by degree of remoteness and socioeconomics indicators in Australia from 2016 to 2023.
Alcohol consumption estimates from 50 wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in the Australian National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program were used. Trends were analysed based on 1) site remoteness: Major Cities, Inner Regional and a combined remoteness category of Outer Regional and Remote, and 2) using two socioeconomic indexes from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) relating to advantage and disadvantage for Income, education, occupation, and housing.
Consumption estimates were similar for Major Cities and Inner Regional areas (14.3 and 14.4L/day/1000 people), but significantly higher in Outer Regional and Remote sites (18.6L/day/1000 people). Consumption was decreasing in Major cities by 4.5% annually, Inner Regional by 2.4%, and 3.5% in the combined Outer Regional and Remote category. Consumption estimates were higher in socioeconomically advantaged quartiles than those of lower advantage (0%-25% mean = 13.0, 75%-100% mean = 17.4). Consumption in all quartiles decreased significantly over the 7 year period with annual rates of decrease of 0.9%, 3.7%, 3.6%, and 3.0% for the lowest to highest quartile, respectively.
Declines in Australian alcohol consumption have been steeper in large urban areas than regional and remote areas. There were smaller annual decreases in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. If continued, these trends may increase Australian health inequalities. Policy and prevention work should be appropriately targeted to produce more equitable long-term outcomes.
废水分析为整个社区的酒精使用提供了补充衡量标准。我们评估了澳大利亚从 2016 年到 2023 年的酒精消费的绝对差异和时间趋势，按偏远程度和社会经济指标进行划分。
使用澳大利亚国家废水药物监测计划中 50 个废水处理厂（WWTP）的酒精消费估计值。根据 1）地点偏远程度：主要城市、内部区域以及外部区域和偏远地区的综合偏远类别，以及 2）澳大利亚统计局（ABS）与收入、教育、职业和住房相关的两个社会经济指标，对趋势进行了分析。
主要城市和内部区域的消费估计值相似（分别为 14.3 和 14.4L/天/1000 人），但外部区域和偏远地区的消费明显更高（18.6L/天/1000 人）。主要城市的消费每年下降 4.5%，内部区域下降 2.4%，而外部区域和偏远地区的综合类别则下降 3.5%。在社会经济上处于优势四分位数的人的消费估计值高于处于劣势四分位数的人（0%-25%平均值为 13.0，75%-100%平均值为 17.4）。在所有四分位数中，消费都显著下降，在 7 年期间，从最低到最高四分位数的年下降率分别为 0.9%、3.7%、3.6%和 3.0%。
澳大利亚的酒精消费下降在大城市地区比在地区和偏远地区更为明显。在社会经济最不利地区，每年的降幅较小。如果这种趋势持续下去，可能会增加澳大利亚的健康不平等。政策和预防工作应针对特定目标，以产生更公平的长期结果。
