Tuesday 24th February 2009

Statistical Publication Notice
Alcohol Statistics Scotland 2009

INTRODUCTION

This biennial publication presents the latest available information from a range of national data sources relating to alcohol. These include routine data sources and surveys.

 There are four main sections:

  • The Alcohol Market.  This section reports on key aspects of the alcohol market including volume sold, cost, licensing and on-and off sales.
  • Alcohol Consumption.  This section focuses on the way in which we consume alcohol, and our attitudes towards it.  It includes information on level of consumption and consumption patterns in Scotland by gender and age, in adults and
  • Alcohol and Health Harm.  This section describes the scale and nature of the health impact of excessive alcohol consumption in Scotland. It includes data on alcohol-related discharges from acute and psychiatric hospitals.
  • Alcohol and Social Harm.  This section focuses on the public perception of alcohol as a problem in Scottish society and offences related to alcohol such as drunkenness.  It also includes detailed information relating to road traffic accidents and breath testing, and data on alcohol use by the prison population. 

Much of the information presented has been previously published elsewhere.  This statistical publication notice focuses on the ISD data which is being published for the first time in this report including:

2007/08 information on general hospital discharges with an alcohol related diagnosis (SMR01)

2006/07 information on psychiatric hospital discharges with an alcohol related diagnosis (SMR04).

2006/07 information from general practice on alcohol misuse consultations (Practice Team Information).

KEY POINTS

In 2007/08 in Scotland, there were 42,430 alcohol related discharges from general hospitals, equating to a discharge rate of 777 per 100,000 population.  This is an increase of nearly 7% from the previous year (729 per 100,000 population in 2006/07).

There was an increase of nearly 17% in alcohol related age standardised discharge rates from Scottish general hospitals over the last five years (666 per 100,000 population in 2003/04 compared to 777 per 100,000 population in 2007/08).

In 2007/08 there were 6,817 discharges for alcoholic liver disease from general acute hospitals in Scotland.

In 2007/08 there were 4,646 discharges for toxic effect of alcohol (alcohol poisoning) from general acute hospitals in Scotland.

INTERPRETATION

Revised alcohol codes (International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision).

ISD has recently carried out an in-depth internal review of its core alcohol-related code set. The purpose of the review was to define more precisely the set of ICD10 codes that best capture those conditions that are wholly attributable to alcohol. The codes have recently been revised with some new codes being added while others have been removed.  All data presented in this publication is based on the revised code list and is not comparable with data reported in previous publications. Further information on the review and resulting consultation process is available at: http://www.alcoholinformation.isdscotland.org/alcohol_misuse/3986.html

Alcohol-related diagnoses

The ICD10 codes selected for reporting alcohol-related hospital discharges include only those diagnoses for which alcohol is considered 100% attributable and do not include conditions where alcohol is only a contributory factor. ISD is currently undertaking the development of a separate code set to define those conditions for which alcohol is partly attributable.  There is currently no standard method in Scotland for quantifying this burden; therefore, although figures have been reported elsewhere relating to partly attributable conditions, we have not included any of these figures within this publication.

DETAILED FINDINGS

General hospital discharges with an alcohol related diagnosis

In 2007/08 in Scotland, there were 42,430 alcohol related discharges from general hospitals, equating to a discharge rate of 777 per 100,000 population.  This is an increase of nearly 7% from the previous year (729 per 100,000 population in 2006/07).

There was an increase of nearly 17% in alcohol related age standardised discharge rates from Scottish general hospitals over the last five years (666 per 100,000 population in 2003/04 compared to 777 per 100,000 population in 2007/08).

Over the last five years, rates of alcohol related general hospital discharges have increased in every age group, with the exception of the 'Under 15 years' group, which has seen a slight fall.

The diagnosis grouping Mental & behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol accounted for 71% (30,092) of alcohol related discharges from general hospitals.

Psychiatric hospital discharges with an alcohol related diagnosis

In 2006/07 there were 4,053 alcohol-related discharges from psychiatric hospitals. 

This equates to a discharge rate of 77 per 100,000 population.  Of the 4,053 discharges, 65% (2,650 discharges) were re-admissions. In 2006/07, 2,760 discharges from psychiatric hospitals in Scotland were for alcohol dependence, 829 were for harmful use, and 401 were for alcohol psychoses.  There has been an overall decrease in the number of psychiatric discharges with an alcohol related diagnosis.  In 2002/03, the number of discharges was 4,590 (a rate of 88 per 100,000 population) falling to 4,053 discharges (a rate of 77 per 100, 000) in 2006/07

Primary Care Contacts

In Scotland, in 2006/07 it is estimated that around 111,200 consultations took place with GPs and practice nurses for alcohol misuse. The estimated contact rate per 1,000 population for Scotland was 20.6


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MAIN CONTACTS:

Lee Davies
Programme Principal, Substance Misuse
0131 275 6193
lee.davies@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk

Laura Blackwood
Senior Information Analyst / Researcher
0131 275 6482
laura.blackwood@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk

Julia Wallace
Information Analyst
0131 275 6895
Julia.wallace@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk

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GLOSSARY:

ICD10 - International Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems, tenth    revision.

SMR01 - General/Acute Inpatient and Day Case

SMR04 - Mental Health Patient and Day Case

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PRE-RELEASE ACCESS TO THIS PUBLICATION WAS GIVEN TO:

Scottish Government

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HISTORY OF THIS PUBLICATION:

Last Published: January 2007
Next Due: February 2011
Data Avaliable Since: 2005

Full report available to download here. (pdf 2.9mb)