Rapidly Increasing Trend of Recorded Alcohol Consumption Since the End of the Armed Conflict in Sri Lanka

Nugawela, Manjula D.; Lewis, Sarah; Szatkowski, Lisa; Langley, Tessa

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate temporal changes in recorded alcohol consumption in Sri Lanka during and after the armed conflict 1998 – 2013.

Methods: District level alcohol sales, and mid-year population data for the whole study period (1998-2013) were consistently available from the Department of Excise and the Department of Census and Statistics for 18 of 25 districts. These data were used to estimate the recorded per capita consumption for the areas that were not directly exposed to the armed conflict. An interrupted time series design was employed to estimate the impact of the end of the armed conflict on recorded adult per capita alcohol consumption of population lived in the 18 districts.

Results: Adult per capita recorded alcohol consumption among Sri Lankans living in the 18 districts was 1.59 litres of pure alcohol in 1998. This increased up to 2.07 litres in 2009 and 2.55 litres in 2013. Prior to the end of the conflict in 2009 adult per capita recorded consumption increased by 0.051 litres of pure alcohol per year (95% CI 0.029-0.074, p<0.001); after 2009 this was 0.166 litres per year (95% CI 0.095-0.236, p<0.001). Beer consumption showed the highest per capita growth compared with other beverages.

Conclusions: Adult per capita recorded alcohol consumption among Sri Lankans living in areas that were not directly exposed to the conflict increased markedly after the end of the conflict. Rapid socio-economic development, alcohol industry penetration and lack of alcohol control strategies during the post-conflict period may have driven this increase.

Citation

Nugawela, M. D., Lewis, S., Szatkowski, L., & Langley, T. (2017). Rapidly Increasing Trend of Recorded Alcohol Consumption Since the End of the Armed Conflict in Sri Lanka. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 52(5), 550-556. https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agx044

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 26, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jul 18, 2017
• Publication Date: 2017-09
• Deposit Date: Jul 12, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 18, 2017
• Journal: Alcohol and Alcoholism
• Print ISSN: 0735-0414
• Electronic ISSN: 1464-3502
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 52
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 550-556
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agx044
• Keywords: Evaluation study, War exposure, Non-displaced, Conflict, Alcohol drinking, Sri Lanka
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/880244
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/alcalc/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/alcalc/agx044
• Additional Information: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Alcohol and Alcoholism following peer review. The version of record Manjula D. Nugawela, Sarah Lewis, Lisa Szatkowski, Tessa Langley; Rapidly Increasing Trend of Recorded Alcohol Consumption Since the End of the Armed Conflict in Sri Lanka, Alcohol and Alcoholism, Volume 52, Issue 5, 1 September 2017, Pages 550–556, https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agx044 is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/alcalc/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/alcalc/agx044
• Contract Date: Jul 12, 2017