Alcohol and all-cause mortality in Europe 1982-1990: a pooled cross-section time-series analysis

Aim. To test the relationship between alcohol consumption and all‐cause mortality. Design. Data: Yearly mortality rates and per capita consumption from 25 European countries between 1982 and 1990. Statistical models. This paper employs time‐series cross‐sectional data to model the relationships between alcohol consumption and all‐cause mortality. The data are derived from 25 European countries in the 1980s. The statistical analyses controlling cross‐sectional correlation and timewise autoregression were used to implement the econometric modelling. Findings. Increases (decreases) in the per capita consumption of 1 litre of pure alcohol were associated with increases (decreases) of 1.3% in all‐cause mortality rates. The beverage‐specific analyses indicated a significant relationship between consumption of beer and all‐cause mortality only. Conclusion. The data show that per capita alcohol consumption, according to reported levels in Europe, is related to all‐cause mortality and is thus of relevance to public health.