Brief Report2010 National and State Costs of Excessive Alcohol Consumption
Introduction
Excessive alcohol consumption causes about one in ten deaths among working-age adults in the U.S. annually,1 and cost the U.S. an estimated $223.5 billion in 2006.2, 3 However, these economic costs have not been re-evaluated despite ongoing concerns about the public health impact of excessive drinking, underutilization of prevention strategies,4 and economic changes in the U.S. since 2006. This study’s purpose is to update national and state cost estimates to inform the planning and implementation of prevention strategies.5
Section snippets
Methods
Excessive alcohol consumption was defined as binge drinking (four or more drinks per occasion for women; five or more drinks per occasion for men); heavy drinking (more than eight drinks per week for women; and ≥15 drinks per week for men); any alcohol consumption by youth aged <21 years; and any alcohol consumption by pregnant women.
The methodology for the 2006 estimates is described in detail elsewhere.2, 3 Briefly, alcohol-attributable fractions from studies were used to assess the
Results
The estimated cost of excessive drinking in 2010 was $249.0 billion. This equates to $2.05 per drink or $807 per person. Lost productivity comprised 71.9% of costs, health care comprised 11.4%, and other comprised 16.7%. The cost to government was $100.7 billion ($0.83 per drink, $306 per capita) (Table 1, Table 2).
Binge drinking costs ($191.1 billion) represented 76.7% of total costs (Table 1). Binge drinking accounted for $78.7 billion (78.2%) of the $100.7 billion in government costs.
Discussion
Despite the severe economic recession in the U.S. from late 2007 to mid-2009, the cost of excessive drinking increased about 2.7% annually from $223.5 billion in 2006 to $249.0 billion in 2010, significantly outpacing the 1.9% annual inflation rate during this four-year time period. Had the recession not occurred, the cost of excessive drinking in 2010 might have been even higher than estimated in this study given the significant reduction in labor force participation that occurred as a result
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the assistance of: Marissa Esser, MPH, Alcohol Program, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), CDC; Dafna Kanny, PhD, Alcohol Program, NCCDPHP, CDC; Yong Liu, MD, MS, Division of Population Health, NCCDPHP, CDC; and Jessica B. Mesnick, MPH, Alcohol Program, NCCDPHP, CDC.
Dr. Sacks received funding for this project from CDC via contract 200-2013-M-57540. All authors participated in (1) study conception/design and data acquisition;
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