Alcohol Consumption and Mortality Risk in the United States

Muntasir Masum , University of Texas at San Antonio
Patrice Sparks, University of Texas at San Antonio

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the association between alcohol consumption and mortality risk and what impact the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act (NMDAA) had on the mortality risk for the cohorts pre-1963 and post-1963. Methods: Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were conducted using data (analytic sample: 505,662) from the public-use NHIS-LMF, 2001 - 2009. Mortality status is treated as a binary outcome variable, and the main predictor variable is alcohol consumption behavior. Results: Results indicate that individuals who had drinking habits (former and heavy drinkers) in the earlier cohort had increased risk of death in the follow-up period compared to the later cohort with similar levels of alcohol consumption. Conclusion: The enactment of NMDAA in 1984 showed lowered mortality risk for adults coming of age after its implementation. Reinforcement of NMDAA and other evidence-based prevention efforts are instrumental to reduce alcohol consumption related mortality risks.

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 Presented in Session 5. Health & Mortality 1