Fraction of Tuberculosis Mortality Attributable to Alcohol in Russia

Abstract

Background: The Russian Federation has the 11 highest burden of tuberculosis (TB) in the world and third-highest burden of multidrug resistant TB. Alcohol continues to play a crucial role in the Russian TB mortality crisis. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to estimate the TB mortality attributable to alcohol abuse in Russia using aggregate-level data of TB mortality and the level of alcohol sales from 1980 to 2010. Methods: Age-standardized sex-specific male and female TB mortality data for the period 1980-2010 and data on alcohol sales were analyzed by means ARIMA time series analysis. Results: The results of the analysis suggest that 35.4% of all male TB deaths and 32.0% female TB deaths in Russia could be attributed to alcohol. Conclusions: The outcomes of this study provide support for the hypothesis that alcohol is an important contributor to the high TB mortality rate in Russian Federation. Therefore prevention of alcohol-attributable harm should be a major public health priority in Russia.