The spatial epidemiology of alcohol availability, consumption and harm

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Alcohol misuse has been one of the major public health concerns in the UK as a significant source of health and social problems. Much research has tried to identify, qualify, and quantify the factors (socio-economic, cultural) that lead to or foster alcohol misuse and their impact on health. Nonetheless, the extent of the impact of many of these factors is still not fully understood. Recent research infers on the existence of an association between high density of alcohol outlets and alcohol related incidents (e.g. alcohol consumption, mortality, driving under the influence, violence). Other studies have addressed the trends in alcohol availability (density or proximity), associations with geographical areas of deprivation, or with alcohol related hospital admissions. However, the quantification of the impact of these relations and a causality link between them has yet to be established, particularly in the UK, where tailored recommendations (considering outlet type and demographic characteristics) of limit densities of alcohol availability could inform the development of more effective alcohol policies. This project proposes to understand the public health impact of geographical alcohol availability in the UK and to explore its associations to behaviours of consumption and misuse. We propose to investigate the spatial relationship between harm and consumption, and in particular, to characterise the spatial aspects of the relationship between demographics and outlets that are responsible for harm and problematic consumption.The project aims to increase the effectiveness of policy making (with regards to limiting alcohol availability) and to feed into the work undertaken by many public services affected by alcohol misuse (NHS, emergency services, local councils, police, and community groups).