PMID- 24631002
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20141126
LR  - 20140408
IS  - 1879-0046 (Electronic)
IS  - 0376-8716 (Linking)
VI  - 138
DP  - 2014 May 1
TI  - Impacts of drinking-age laws on mortality in Canada, 1980-2009.
PG  - 137-45
LID - S0376-8716(14)00074-X [pii]
LID - 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.02.019 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Given the recent international debates about the effectiveness and 
      appropriate age setpoints for legislated minimum legal drinking ages (MLDAs), the 
      current study estimates the impact of Canadian MLDAs on mortality among young 
      adults. Currently, the MLDA is 18 years in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec, and 19 
      years in the rest of Canada. METHODS: Using a regression-discontinuity approach, 
      we estimated the impacts of the MLDAs on mortality from 1980 to 2009 among 16- to 
      22-year-olds in Canada. RESULTS: In provinces with an MLDA of 18 years, young men 
      slightly older than the MLDA had significant and abrupt increases in all-cause 
      mortality (14.2%, p=0.002), primarily due to deaths from a broad class of 
      injuries [excluding motor vehicle accidents (MVAs)] (16.2%, p=0.008), as well as 
      fatalities due to MVAs (12.7%, p=0.038). In provinces/territories with an MLDA of 
      19 years, significant jumps appeared immediately after the MLDA among males in 
      all-cause mortality (7.2%, p=0.003), including injuries from external causes 
      (10.4%, p<0.001) and MVAs (15.3%, p<0.001). Among females, there were some 
      increases in mortality following the MLDA, but these jumps were statistically 
      non-significant. CONCLUSIONS: Canadian drinking-age legislation has a powerful 
      impact on youth mortality. Given that removal of MLDA restrictions was associated 
      with sharp upturns in fatalities among young men, the MLDA likely reduces 
      population-level mortality among male youth under the constraints of drinking-age 
      legislation. Alcohol-control policies should target the transition across the 
      MLDA as a pronounced period of mortality risk, especially among males.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights 
      reserved.
FAU - Callaghan, Russell C
AU  - Callaghan RC
AD  - Northern Medical Program, University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), 3333 
      University Way, Prince George, British Columbia V2N 4Z9, Canada; Human Brain 
      Laboratory, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 33 Russell Street, 
      Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University 
      of Toronto, 155 College Street, Health Science Building, Toronto, Ontario M5T 
      3M7, Canada. Electronic address: russ.callaghan@unbc.ca.
FAU - Sanches, Marcos
AU  - Sanches M
AD  - Biostatistical Consulting Unit, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 33 
      Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada.
FAU - Gatley, Jodi M
AU  - Gatley JM
AD  - Northern Medical Program, University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), 3333 
      University Way, Prince George, British Columbia V2N 4Z9, Canada; Human Brain 
      Laboratory, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 33 Russell Street, 
      Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada.
FAU - Stockwell, Tim
AU  - Stockwell T
AD  - Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia, University of Victoria, PO 
      Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 2Y2, Canada.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20140226
PL  - Ireland
TA  - Drug Alcohol Depend
JT  - Drug and alcohol dependence
JID - 7513587
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Age Factors
MH  - Alcohol Drinking/*legislation & jurisprudence/*mortality
MH  - Alcoholic Beverages/*adverse effects
MH  - Canada/epidemiology
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Sex Factors
MH  - Young Adult
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Canada
OT  - Gender differences
OT  - Minimum legal drinking age
OT  - Mortality
OT  - Regression-discontinuity
EDAT- 2014/03/19 06:00
MHDA- 2014/12/15 06:00
CRDT- 2014/03/18 06:00
PHST- 2013/07/10 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2014/02/11 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2014/02/13 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2014/03/18 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2014/03/19 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2014/12/15 06:00 [medline]
AID - S0376-8716(14)00074-X [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.02.019 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Drug Alcohol Depend. 2014 May 1;138:137-45. doi: 
      10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.02.019. Epub 2014 Feb 26.