CDC report examines deaths and years of potential life lost from alcohol use

A report published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) examined deaths and years of potential life lost from excessive alcohol use. As described in the report, researchers used data from the Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI) application to estimate national and State average annual alcohol-attributable deaths and years of potential life lost (YPLL) from 2011-2015, including deaths from one’s own excessive drinking and from others’ drinking (e.g. passengers killed in alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents). The study found that each year, on average, 93,296 deaths were attributable to alcohol, or 255 deaths per day, and 2.7 million YPLL, or 29 years of life lost per death were attributable to alcohol. Of those deaths, 54.7% were caused by chronic conditions, and 56% involved adults aged 35-64 years. The report noted that the implementation of effective strategies to prevent excessive drinking, such as those recommended by the Community Preventive Services Task Force, could reduce alcohol-attributable deaths and YPLL.