title: The effect of the new "24 hour alcohol licensing law" on the incidence of facial trauma in London.
abstract: On 24 November 2005 the new 2003 Licensing Act was implemented. It permits licensed premises to close at different times under English and Welsh law, rather than at 2300h as under the previous law. The aim of this study was to assess whether head and neck trauma secondary to alcohol-associated assaults had increased, decreased, or stayed the same since the introduction of the act. Data were collected from the Accident and Emergency Department, University College Hospital, attendance databases for two six-month periods: 24 November 2004 to 30 April 2005, and 24 November 2005 to 30 April 2006. There were 1102 attendances for head and neck trauma secondary to alcohol-associated assaults during the six months before the introduction of the 2003 Licensing Act and 730 such attendances during the similar period after the introduction of the law, with fewer cases in each corresponding month during the later period. There were more cases at weekends than on weekdays during both periods. There were fewer cases but more at weekends in 2005-6 than in 2004-5 (423, 58% compared with 584, 53%, respectively). Neither rainfall nor temperature had any influence on the results. The 2003 licensing Act seems to have reduced the number of attendances at the A&E department for head and neck trauma secondary to alcohol associated assaults.
authors.affiliation: Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Unit, Division of Oral & Maxillofacial Medical, Surgical & Diagnostic Services, UCL Eastman Dental Institute for Oral Health Care Sciences, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El-Maaytah
authors.forename: Samantha F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Waseem
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jerjes
authors.forename: Tahwinder
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Upile
authors.forename: Aviva
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petrie
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kalavrezos
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ayliffe
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hopper
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lloyd
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005151:Facial Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D022125:Lacerations / Q000453:epidemiology; D008004:Licensure / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008446:Maxillofacial Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D019838:Neck Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010507:Periodicity; D013997:Time Factors; D018677:Tooth Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014887:Weather