It is common knowledge that drinking too much booze can come with unwanted consequences, but just how dangerous is it?
According to a study published Tuesday in JAMA, it is deadlier than one might think. Researchers found that excessive alcohol use accounted for one in five deaths for adults age 20 to 49 from 2015 to 2019.
A cross-section of 694,660 mean deaths per year between 2015 and 2019 was used to conduct the study. An estimated 140,557 deaths due to excessive alcohol use were recorded annually, and two thirds were from the 20 to 64-year-old age group.
For that entire age group, excessive alcohol consumption accounted for 12.9% of total deaths. For the 20 to 49-year-old age group, that percentage increased to 20.3%, per the study. Proportions of alcohol-attributable deaths to total deaths varied by state.
“Compared with 2019, death rates involving alcohol as an underlying or contributing cause of death increased during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, including among adults aged 20 to 64 years,” said the study authors. “Therefore, the proportion of deaths due to excessive drinking among total deaths might be higher than reported in this study.”
However, they said that results were consistent with findings that younger adults engage in more binge drinking that contributes to the number of alcohol related deaths.
“These premature deaths could be reduced through increased implementation of evidence-based alcohol policies,” said the study authors.
Specifically, they mentioned increasing alcohol taxes, regulating alcohol outlet density, alcohol screening and brief intervention.
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