Access to alcohol and heart disease among patients in hospital: observational cohort study using differences in alcohol sales laws.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

 To investigate the relation between alcohol consumption and heart disease by using differences in county level alcohol sales laws as a natural experiment.

Design

 Observational cohort study using differences in alcohol sales laws.

Setting

 Hospital based healthcare encounters in Texas, USA.

Population

 1 106 968 patients aged 21 or older who were residents of "wet" (no alcohol restrictions) and "dry" (complete prohibition of alcohol sales) counties and admitted to hospital between 2005 and 2010, identified using the Texas Inpatient Research Data File.

Outcome measures

 Prevalent and incident alcohol misuse and alcoholic liver disease were used for validation analyses. The main cardiovascular outcomes were atrial fibrillation, acute myocardial

SUBMITTER: Dukes JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4908314 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature