title: Alcohol outlet density and alcohol consumption in Los Angeles county and southern Louisiana.
abstract: The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between alcohol availability, as measured by the density of off-premise alcohol outlets, and alcohol consumption in Los Angeles county and southern Louisiana, USA. Consumption information was collected through a telephone survey of 2,881 households in Los Angeles county and pre-Katrina southern Louisiana, nested within 220 census tracts. Respondents' addresses were geo-coded and both neighbourhood (census tracts and buffers of varying sizes) and individual (network distance to the closest alcohol outlet) estimates of off-sale alcohol outlet density were computed. Alcohol outlet density was not associated with the percentage of people who were drinkers in either site. Alcohol outlet density was associated with the quantity of consumption among drinkers in Louisiana but not in Los Angeles. Outlet density within a one-mile buffer of the respondent's home was more strongly associated with alcohol consumption than outlet density in the respondent's census tract. The conclusion is that the relationship between neighbourhood alcohol outlet density and alcohol consumption is complex and may vary due to differences in neighbourhood design and travel patterns.
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, 4570 Fifth Avenue, Suite 600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. matt@rand.org
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schonlau
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scribner
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Farley
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Theall
authors.forename: Ricky N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Bluthenthal
authors.forename: Molly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: Deborah A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019352:Censuses; D003132:Commerce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003710:Demography; D000431:Ethanol; D005260:Female; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D015141:Los Angeles / Q000453:epidemiology; D008145:Louisiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D040442:Public Health Informatics; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000145:classification*; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014186:Transportation; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol