Citation

Makela P, Warpenius K. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Alcohol, Drugs and Addictions Unit, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/dar.13068

PMID

32291837

Abstract

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: The risk of alcohol-related injuries and violence increases in late-night settings. We analysed temporal patterns of drinking and assaults and present an event-level analysis of connections between night-time drinking, estimated blood alcohol level, location and drinkers' age and sex. DESIGN AND METHODS: Main data source is a Finnish general population (aged 18-69 years) survey carried out in 2016 (n = 1962), including event-level data on drinking occasions in the previous 7 days (n = 1891). Statistical analyses consisted of tabulations and logistic regression analyses.

RESULTS: Finns' drinking peaked around 8-9 pm on most days, with the greatest peaks on Fridays and Saturdays. The main pattern was similar for drinking occasions occurring in home surroundings and in licensed premises, but a larger proportion of the latter occurred in later hours of the day. Assaults had a similar weekday distribution, but the peak occurred several hours later, around 3-5 am. One explanation is that the mean estimated blood alcohol concentration strongly increased as the ending time of the drinking occasion extended later into the night, and the proportion of late-night drinking was higher in licensed premises than home surroundings.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Peaks for assaults in public places temporally coincide with the late closing times of licensed premises and with high estimated blood alcohol concentrations among drinkers. The results underline a need to reduce harm from intoxication, which in public places could include restricted opening hours, increased law enforcement, improved responsible beverage service practices and other interventions to better manage aggression.

© 2020 The Authors. Drug and Alcohol Review published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Language: en

Keywords

alcohol; assault; event-level data; late-night drinking; on-premise