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Publications

Journal Article Ppublish

PubMed: 40344765 DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckaf069

The economic costs of alcohol consumption in Lithuania, 2015-20.

Eur J Public Health 35(4):726-732

Authors: Vaida Liutkutė-Gumarov, Claire de Oliveira, Auksė Domeikienė, Lukas Galkus, Ahmed S Hassan, Shannon Lange, Laura Miščikienė, Birutė Peištarė, Janina Petkevičienė, Ričardas Radišauskas, Jürgen Rehm, Pol Rovira, Ilona Tamutienė, Mark James Thompson, Mindaugas Štelemėkas

Affiliations

  • Health Research Institute, Faculty of Public Health, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
  • Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Toronto, ON, Canada.
  • Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
  • Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
  • Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
  • Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
  • Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
  • Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania.
  • Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
  • Institute of Cardiology, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
  • Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Toronto, ON, Canada. Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada. Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada. Center for Interdisciplinary Addiction Research (ZIS), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany. Program on Substance Abuse & WHO European Region Collaboration Centre, Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
  • Program on Substance Abuse & WHO European Region Collaboration Centre, Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
  • Vytautas Kavolis Transdisciplinary Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania.
  • Institute for Wealth and Asset Management, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur, Switzerland.

Abstract

Alcohol per capita consumption in Lithuania among the population 15 years of age and older has been among the highest globally in recent decades. Long-term alcohol consumption trends and drinking patterns signal a significant public health problem, as well as social and economic losses. This study aimed to estimate the economic burden associated with alcohol consumption in Lithuania from 2015 to 2020. We used a cost-of-illness methodology with the human capital approach to estimate the economic burden and applied a prevalence-based approach. Using multiyear data, we estimated both, direct and indirect costs. Direct costs included healthcare and childcare, law enforcement, and justice system costs. Indirect costs included costs of productivity loss due to premature mortality. The total economic cost of alcohol consumption in Lithuania between 2015 and 2020 was estimated at an annual average of €542.958 million (in 2020 Euros) or about 1.18% of the Lithuanian total Gross Domestic Product. The highest proportion (65%) of the estimated costs was associated with productivity losses due to premature mortality. Alcohol use places a considerable burden on Lithuanian society in terms of illness, injury, death, and economic costs. Alcohol control policies, in particular excise taxation increases and availability restrictions have been shown to decrease this burden.

MeSH

Financial Stress, Mortality, Epidemiology, Public Health, Mortality, Premature, Alcohol Drinking