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Schulte A, Liu G, Subbaraman MS, Kerr WC, Leslie D, Roberts SCM. Relationships Between Alcohol Policies and Infant Morbidities and Injuries. Am J Prev Med 2024; 66:980-988. [PMID: 38340136 PMCID: PMC11195443 DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2024.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Previous research has found that policies specifically focused on pregnant people's alcohol use are largely ineffective. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the relationships between general population policies regulating alcohol physical availability and outcomes related to pregnant people's alcohol use, specifically infant morbidities and injuries. METHODS Outcome data were obtained from Merative MarketScan, a longitudinal commercial insurance claims data set. Policy data were obtained from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's Alcohol Policy Information System, the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, and Liquor Handbooks and merged using policies in effect during the estimated year of conception. Relationships between state-level policies regulating sites, days/hours, and government monopoly of liquor sales and infant morbidities and injuries were examined. Analyses used logistic regression with individual controls, fixed effects for state and year, state-specific time trends, and SEs clustered by state. The study analysis was conducted from 2021 to 2023. RESULTS The analytic sample included 1,432,979 infant-birthing person pairs, specifically people aged 25-50 years who gave birth to a singleton between 2006 and 2019. A total of 3.1% of infants had a morbidity and 2.1% of infants had an injury. State government monopoly on liquor sales was associated with reduced odds of infant morbidities and injuries, whereas gas station liquor sales were associated with increased odds of infant morbidities and injuries. Allowing liquor sales after 10PM was associated with increased odds for infant injuries. No effect was found for allowing liquor sales in grocery stores or on Sundays. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that limiting alcohol availability for the general population may help reduce adverse infant outcomes related to pregnant people's alcohol use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Schulte
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of California San Francisco, Oakland, California.
| | - Guodong Liu
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania
| | | | - William C Kerr
- Alcohol Research Group, Public Health Institute, Emeryville, California
| | - Douglas Leslie
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania
| | - Sarah C M Roberts
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of California San Francisco, Oakland, California
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Subbaraman MS, Schulte A, Berglas NF, Kerr WC, Thomas S, Treffers R, Liu G, Roberts SCM. Associations between alcohol taxes and varied health outcomes among women of reproductive age and infants. Alcohol Alcohol 2024; 59:agae015. [PMID: 38497162 PMCID: PMC10945295 DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agae015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2023] [Revised: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE No studies have examined whether alcohol taxes may be relevant for reducing harms related to pregnant people's drinking. METHOD We examined how beverage-specific ad valorem, volume-based, and sales taxes are associated with outcomes across three data sets. Drinking outcomes came from women of reproductive age in the 1990-2020 US National Alcohol Surveys (N = 11 659 women $\le$ 44 years); treatment admissions data came from the 1992-2019 Treatment Episode Data Set: Admissions (N = 1331 state-years; 582 436 pregnant women admitted to treatment); and infant and maternal outcomes came from the 2005-19 Merative Marketscan® database (1 432 979 birthing person-infant dyads). Adjusted analyses for all data sets included year fixed effects, state-year unemployment and poverty, and accounted for clustering by state. RESULTS Models yield no robust significant associations between taxes and drinking. Increased spirits ad valorem taxes were robustly associated with lower rates of treatment admissions [adjusted IRR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.91, 0.99]. Increased wine and spirits volume-based taxes were both robustly associated with lower odds of infant morbidities [wine aOR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.96, 0.99; spirits aOR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.98, 1.00] and lower odds of severe maternal morbidities [wine aOR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.86, 0.97; spirits aOR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92, 0.97]. Having an off-premise spirits sales tax was also robustly related to lower odds of severe maternal morbidities [aOR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.64, 0.96]. CONCLUSIONS Results show protective associations between increased wine and spirits volume-based and sales taxes with infant and maternal morbidities. Policies that index tax rates to inflation might yield more public health benefits, including for pregnant people and infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meenakshi S Subbaraman
- Behavioral Health and Recovery Studies, Public Health Institute, 555 12th St, Oakland, CA 94607, United States
| | - Alex Schulte
- Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, S1330 Broadway, Suite 1100, Oakland, CA 94612, United States
| | - Nancy F Berglas
- Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, S1330 Broadway, Suite 1100, Oakland, CA 94612, United States
| | - William C Kerr
- Alcohol Research Group, Public Health Institute, 6001 Shellmound Ave, Suite 450, Emeryville, CA 94608, United States
| | - Sue Thomas
- National Capital Region Center, Pacific Institute of Research and Evaluation, 4061 Powder Mill Road Suite 350, Beltsville, MD 20705-3113, United States
| | - Ryan Treffers
- National Capital Region Center, Pacific Institute of Research and Evaluation, 4061 Powder Mill Road Suite 350, Beltsville, MD 20705-3113, United States
| | - Guodong Liu
- Center for Applied Studies in Health Economics, Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, 90 Hope Drive, Suite 2200, Hershey, PA 17033, United States
| | - Sarah C M Roberts
- Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, S1330 Broadway, Suite 1100, Oakland, CA 94612, United States
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