The Impact of Increasing the Minimum Legal Drinking Age from 18 to 20 Years in Lithuania on All-Cause Mortality in Young Adults—An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis. (1st December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tran, Alexander; Jiang, Huan; Lange, Shannon; Livingston, Michael; Manthey, Jakob; Neufeld, Maria; Room, Robin; Štelemėkas, Mindaugas; Telksnys, Tadas; Petkevičienė, Janina; Radišauskas, Ričardas; Rehm, Jürgen
• Is Part Of: Alcohol and alcoholism. Volume 57:Number 4(2022)
• Page Start: 513
• Page End: 519
• Publication Date: 2021-12-01
• Subjects: Alcoholism -- Periodicals; 616.861005
• DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agab076
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0735-0414

Abstract

Abstract: Aims: To determine the effect of an alcohol policy change, which increased the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) from 18 years of age to 20 years of age on all-cause mortality rates in young adults (18–19 years old) in Lithuania. Methods: An interrupted time series analysis was conducted on a dataset from 2001 to 2019 ( n = 228 months). The model tested the effects of the MLDA on all-cause mortality rates (deaths per 100, 000 individuals) in three age categories (15–17 years old, 18–19 years old, 20–22 years old) in order to control for general mortality trends in young adults, and to isolate the effects of the MLDA from other alcohol control policies. Additional models that included GDP as a covariate and a taxation policy were tested as well. Results: There was a significant effect of the MLDA on all-cause mortality rates in those 18–19 years old, when modelled alone. Additional analyses controlling for the mortality rate of other age groups showed similar findings. Inclusion of confounding factors (policies on alcohol taxation, GDP) eliminated the effects of MLDA. Conclusions: Although there was a notable decline in all-cause mortality rates among young adults in Lithuania, a direct causal impact of MLDA on all-cause mortality rates in young adults was not definitively found. Abstract : Short Summary: We investigated the effect of an increase in minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) on all-cause mortality in young adults (aged 18–19). MLDA had a negative effect on all-cause mortality (even when controlling for general trends using other age groups), however when confounding factors were included, these effects were attenuated.