A community-based intervention to reduce alcohol-related accidents and violence in 9th grade students in southern Sweden: the example of the Trelleborg project.
The purpose of the present study was to analyse if a community-based intervention has led to a decrease in alcohol-related accidents and violence, and whether this was mediated by a reduction in excessive drinking and frequency of distilled spirits consumption. We applied logistic regression analyses on cross-sectional, non-repeated data, which was collected from a questionnaire distributed in classrooms to all 9th graders from 1999 to 2001, and in 2003 (n=1376, 724 boys and 652 girls; response rate=92.3%). All alcohol abstainers (n=330) were excluded from the analyses, making the sample 1046 individuals. The odds ratio for alcohol-related accidents was significantly lower, comparing the baseline year (1999) with 2003 (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.27-0.76). There was also an indication that self-reported alcohol-related violence had decreased between 1999 and 2003 (OR 0.7, 95% CI 0.43-1.01). When controlling these estimates for excessive drinking and frequency of distilled spirits consumption, the differences between survey years were substantially reduced or even deleted. In conclusion, the decrease in alcohol-related accidents and violence among 15-16-year-olds in Trelleborg, between 1999 and 2002, is likely to be attributed to the identified reduction in excessive drinking and frequency of distilled spirits consumption.
Stafström
Martin
M
Department of Health Sciences, Division of Social Medicine and Global Health, Lund University, UMAS, 205 02 Malmö, Sweden. martin.stafstrom@med.lu.se
Ostergren
Per-Olof
PO
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000150:complications*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012574:Schools; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*