Economic Availability of Alcohol and Alcoholism Incidence Rates in Russia

Abstract

Background: Russia has one of the highest incidence of alcoholism (alcohol dependence) in Europe, which may be explained by high overall alcohol consumption and prevalence of binge drinking of vodka. There is evidence suggesting that alcohol-related morbidity and mortality responds to changes in the economic availability (affordability) of alcohol. Objective: The aim of the present study was to estimate the relationship between affordability of vodka and alcoholism incidence rate in post-Soviet Russia. Method: Trends in alcoholism incidence rate and affordability of vodka between 1991 and 2015 were compared. Results: A Spearman correlation analysis suggests a statistically significant negative association between the two variables (r=-0.53; p<0.007). Conclusions: The results from this study suggest an inverse aggregate-level relationship between vodka affordability and alcoholism incidence rate in Russia. These findings point to the complex relationship between alcohol affordability and long-term alcohol-related outcomes. The major conclusion emerging from this study is that the estimation of the relationship between alcohol affordability and alcohol-related harm needs to take into account multiple confounding variables.