The association between alcohol restriction policies and vehicle-related mortality in Cali, Colombia, 1998-2008

  • Jorge Mena University of Pittsburgh
  • Álvaro I. Sánchez Universidad del Valle
  • María Isabel Gutiérrez Universidad del Valle
  • Juan-Carlos Puyana University of Pittsburgh
  • Brian Suffoleto University of Pittsburgh
Keywords: Road traffic safety, traffic deaths, alcohol control policies, Cali-Colombia, time series

Abstract

Mena, J., Sánchez, Á., Gutiérrez, M., Puyana, J., & Suffoleto, B. (2014). The association between alcohol restriction policies and vehicle-related mortality in Cali, Colombia, 1998-2008. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 3(2), 149-158. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v3i2.157

Aims: To determine whether the implementation of alcohol control policies was associated with changes in the incidence of road traffic deaths.

Design: Ecologic study conducted using an interrupted time series analysis. Full restrictive polices banned alcohol between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Most restrictive polices prohibited alcohol between 1 a.m. and 10 a.m. Restrictive policies prohibited alcohol between 2 a.m. and 10 a.m. Moderately restrictive policies banned alcohol between 3 a.m. and 10 a.m. Lax policies prohibited alcohol between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m.

Setting: We used data of road traffic mortality in the population of Cali, Colombia from 1998 to 2008.

Participants: The population of Cali in 2008 was 2,184,753 inhabitants; 47% were male.

Measures: Aggregated daily counts of road traffic deaths. Restrictive policies were compared with lax policies to estimate the effect of reducing hours of alcohol availability using multiple negative binomial regressions.

Findings: There was a decreased risk of road traffic mortality in periods when moderately restrictive policies were in effect (IRR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.72–0.97, p = 0.019). There was an even lower risk of road traffic deaths in periods when most restrictive policies were in effect (IRR = 0.70, 95% CI 0.58–0.85, p < 0.001). In motorcyclists, most restrictive (IRR 0.55, 95% CI 0.38–0.81, p = 0.002) and full restrictive policies (IRR 0.52, 95% CI 0.29–0.94, p = 0.032) were associated with decreased risk of mortality.

Conclusions: Our findings support more restrictive alcohol control policies to reduce road traffic mortality. Specifically, reducing the time of alcohol availability was associated with a decrease in road traffic death rates.

Author Biographies

Jorge Mena, University of Pittsburgh

Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, U.S.A.

CISALVA Institute, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia

Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, U.S.A.

Álvaro I. Sánchez, Universidad del Valle

CISALVA Institute, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia

Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, U.S.A.

María Isabel Gutiérrez, Universidad del Valle
CISALVA Institute, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
Juan-Carlos Puyana, University of Pittsburgh
Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, U.S.A.
Brian Suffoleto, University of Pittsburgh
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, U.S.A.
Published
2014-07-24
How to Cite
Mena, J., Sánchez, Álvaro I., Gutiérrez, M. I., Puyana, J.-C., & Suffoleto, B. (2014). The association between alcohol restriction policies and vehicle-related mortality in Cali, Colombia, 1998-2008. International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research, 3(2), 149-158. https://doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v3i2.157
Section
Papers