The effect of beverage type on fatal accidents rate in Russia

Correnspodence to: Y.E. Razvodovsky, Grodno State Medical University, 80 Gorky Street, Grodno 230009, Belarus, tel.: + 375 0152 70 18 84, fax: +375 0152 43 53 41, e-mail: razvodovsky@ tut.by; [email protected] Introduction It is widely recognized that acute alcohol intoxication is associated with an increased risk for almost all categories of accidents and injuries. [1,2] In many countries alcohol plays a significant role in accidental falls, accidents caused by fire, accidental drowning. [3] A causal link between alcohol and injuries Abstract – There is a common belief that high level of alcohol consumption, in conjunction with binge drinking pattern, is a major determinant of accident mortality crisis in Russia. The aim of this study was to examine the relation between the consumption of different beverage types and fatal accident rate in Russia. Agestandardized male and female accident mortality data for the period 1970-2010 and data on beverage-specific alcohol sales were obtained from Russian State Statistical Committee. Time-series analytical modeling techniques (ARIMA) were used to examine the relation between the sales of different alcoholic beverages (vodka, wine, beer) and accident mortality rate. The analysis also suggests that of the three beverages vodka alone was associated with accident mortality in Russia. The estimated effects of vodka sales on the accident mortality rate are clearly statistically significant for both sexes: a 1 liter increase in vodka sale would result in a 9.8% increase in the male accident mortality rate and in 7.5% increase in female mortality rate. The findings from this study suggest that public health efforts should focus on both reducing the overall consumption and changing the beverage preference away from distilled spirits in order to reduce fatal accidents rate in Russia.