@article{ref1,
title="Minimum legal drinking age and alcohol-attributable morbidity and mortality by age 63 years: a register-based cohort study based on alcohol reform",
journal="Lancet Public Health",
year="2023",
author="Luukkonen, Juha and Tarkiainen, Lasse and Martikainen, Pekka and Remes, Hanna",
volume="8",
number="5",
pages="e339-e346",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) is an effective policy tool in preventing youth drinking and short-term alcohol-attributable harm, but studies concerning long-term associations are scarce. <br><br>METHODS: In this register-based, national cohort study, we assessed alcohol-attributable morbidity and mortality of cohorts born in 1944-54 in Finland. Data were from the 1970 census, the Care Register for Healthcare (maintained by the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare), and the Cause-of-Death Register (maintained by Statistics Finland). As MLDA was lowered from 21 years to 18 years in 1969, these cohorts were effectively allowed to buy alcohol from different ages (18-21 years). We used survival analysis to compare their alcohol-attributable mortality and hospitalisations with a 36-year follow-up. <br><br>FINDINGS: Compared with the first cohort (1951) allowed to buy alcohol from age 18, the hazard ratios (HRs) for alcohol-attributable morbidity and mortality were lower in cohorts who could not buy alcohol until age 20 or 21 years. For alcohol-attributable morbidity in those aged 21 years when the reform took place, HR was 0·89 (95% CI 0·86-0·93) for men and 0·87 (0·81-0·94) for women versus those aged 17 years. For alcohol-attributable mortality, HR was 0·86 (0·79-0·93) for men and 0·78 (0·66-0·92) for women aged 21 years when the reform took place. The outcomes of the later-born 1952-54 cohorts did not differ from the 1951 cohort. <br><br>INTERPRETATION: Earlier cohorts had consistently lower alcohol-attributable mortality and morbidity; however, other simultaneous increases in alcohol availability probably contributed to increased alcohol-related harm among the younger cohorts. Overall, differences between cohorts born only a few years apart highlight late adolescence as a crucial period for the establishment of lifelong patterns of alcohol use and suggest that higher MLDA could be protective for health beyond young adulthood. FUNDING: Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation, Foundation for Economic Education, Emil Aaltonen Foundation, Academy of Finland, European Research Council, and NordForsk.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2468-2667",
doi="10.1016/S2468-2667(23)00049-X",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(23)00049-X"
}