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Adjusting for unrecorded consumption in survey and per capita sales data: Quantification of impact on gender- and age-specific alcohol-attributable fractions for oral and pharyngeal cancers in Great Britain

Meier, Petra Sylvia, Meng, Yang, Holmes, John, Baumberg Geiger, Ben, Purshouse, Robin, Hill-McManus, Daniel, Brennan, Alan (2013) Adjusting for unrecorded consumption in survey and per capita sales data: Quantification of impact on gender- and age-specific alcohol-attributable fractions for oral and pharyngeal cancers in Great Britain. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 48 (2). pp. 241-249. ISSN 0735-0414. (doi:10.1093/alcalc/agt001) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:34972)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agt001

Abstract

Aims: Large discrepancies are typically found between per capita alcohol consumption estimated via survey data compared with sales, excise or production figures. This may lead to significant inaccuracies when calculating levels of alcohol-attributable harms. Using British data, we demonstrate an approach to adjusting survey data to give more accurate estimates of per capita alcohol consumption. Methods: First, sales and survey data are adjusted to account for potential biases (e.g. self-pouring, undersampled populations) using evidence from external data sources. Secondly, survey and sales data are aligned using different implementations of Rehm et al.'s method [in (2010) Statistical modeling of volume of alcohol exposure for epidemiological studies of population health: the US example. Pop Health Metrics 8, 1-12]. Thirdly, the impact of our approaches is tested by using our revised survey dataset to calculate alcohol-attributable fractions (AAFs) for oral and pharyngeal cancers. Results: British sales data under-estimate per capita consumption by 8%, primarily due to illicit alcohol. Adjustments to survey data increase per capita consumption estimates by 35%, primarily due to under-sampling of dependent drinkers and under-estimation of home-poured spirits volumes. Before aligning sales and survey data, the revised survey estimate remains 22% lower than the revised sales estimate. Revised AAFs for oral and pharyngeal cancers are substantially larger with our preferred method for aligning data sources, yielding increases in an AAF from the original survey dataset of 0.47-0.60 (males) and 0.28-0.35 (females). Conclusion: It is possible to use external data sources to adjust survey data to reduce the under-estimation of alcohol consumption and then account for residual under-estimation using a statistical calibration technique. These revisions lead to markedly higher estimated levels of alcohol-attributable harm.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1093/alcalc/agt001
Uncontrolled keywords: adolescent, adult, aged, alcohol consumption, alcoholic beverage, alcoholism, article, beer, capital, child, cider, commercial phenomena, epidemiological data, female, food intake, groups by age and sex, health survey, human, male, mouth cancer, pharynx cancer, priority journal, school child, tourism, United Kingdom, waste, wine
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: N. Gregory
Date Deposited: 19 Aug 2013 13:50 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:12 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/34972 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Baumberg Geiger, Ben.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0341-3532
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