Increasing trends in United States alcohol related mortality

In the United States (US) and worldwide, alcohol is a major contributor to premature mortality and morbidity. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine explored US trends in alcohol-related deaths from 1999 to 2020 overall, as well as by age, gender, race and region, using the publicly available US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER).
In 1999, there were 19,356 alcohol-related deaths, a mortality rate of 10.7 per 100,000. By 2020, deaths increased to 48,870 or 21.6 per 100,000. Overall, the mortality rate ratio (MRR) was significantly increased about 2.0-fold. There were significant increases in all 10-year age groups with the largest 3.8-fold in those 25 to 34. Women experienced a 2.5-fold increase; Asians and Pacific Islanders had the largest increase of 2.4-fold; the Midwest showed the largest regional increase of 2.5-fold.
During the last 20 years there have significant increases of about 2-fold in US alcohol-related mortality. Clinical challenges are increased by interrelationships of risk factors, especially overweight and obesity and diabetes. Alcohol, overweight and obesity and diabetes all cause liver damage which may be additive and lead to earlier onset of alcohol related mortality. The researchers say that in addition, health providers should also consider demographic shifts, and regional differences. Targeted interventions by health care providers may reduce this increasing US epidemic of alcohol related mortality. These data also generate many hypotheses testable in analytic studies designed a priori to do so.
Source: Matarazzo A, Hennekens CH, Dunn J, Benson K, Willett Y, Levine RS, Mejia MC, Kitsantas P. New Clinical and Public Health Challenges: Increasing Trends in United States Alcohol Related Mortality. Am J Med. 2024 Nov 10:S0002-9343(24)00704-6.