Alcohol misuse: tackling the UK epidemic - London

BMA Board of Science
The burden of alcohol-related mortality is shifting to younger age groups in both men and
women, and toward the most socially deprived groups. For men the death rates in all age groups
in the UK increased between 1991 and 2005 with the biggest increase in the 35 to 54 age group
(see Figure 10). 72
Rates in this age group more than doubled between 1991 and 2005, from
13.4 to 29.9 deaths per 100,000. 72
The highest rates in each year occurred in the 55 to 74 age
group where the death rate reached 43.4 per 100,000 in 2005. 72
The death rates by age group
for females in the UK were consistently lower than rates for males; however the trends showed
a broadly similar pattern by age (see Figure 11). 72
The death rate for women aged 35 to 54
increased from 7.2 to 14.2 per 100,000 population between 1991 and 2005, a larger increase
than the rate for women in any other age group. 72
The highest rates in each year were for women
aged 55 to 74 where the death rate reached 19.2 per 100,000 population in 2005. 72
Figure 12
shows how the alcohol-related mortality rate in England and Wales between 1999 and 2003 was
significantly higher in the most deprived areas compared to the least deprived.
Figure 10 – male alcohol-related death rates by age group, United Kingdom, 1991-2005
Age-standardised rate per 100,000 population
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Source: Office for National Statistics, General Register Office for Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (2006)
Alcohol misuse: tackling the UK epidemic 33
Year
15-34
35-54
55-74
75+