title: The neighborhood alcohol environment and at-risk drinking among African-Americans.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Our objective was to examine whether components of the neighborhood alcohol environment-liquor store, on-premise outlet, convenience store, and supermarket densities-are positively associated with at-risk alcohol consumption among African-American drinkers.
  
  
  METHODS
  A multilevel cross-sectional sample of 321 African-American women and men ages 21 to 65 years recruited from April 2002 to May 2003 from three community-based healthcare clinics in New Orleans, Louisiana, was studied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The alcohol environment had a significant impact on at-risk alcohol consumption among African-American drinkers, specifically liquor store density (adjusted OR = 3.11, 95% CI = 1.87, 11.07). Furthermore, the influence of the alcohol environment was much stronger for African-American female drinkers (adjusted OR = 6.96, 95% CI = 1.38, 35.08).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Treatment and prevention programs should take into account the physical environment, and the concentration of outlets in minority neighborhoods must be addressed as it poses potential health risks to the residents of these neighborhoods.
authors.affiliation: Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, USA. ktheall@tulane.edu
authors.forename: Katherine P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Theall
authors.forename: Brooke P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Lancaster
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: Robert T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Haines
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scribner
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scribner
authors.forename: Vimal
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kishore
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000191:economics* / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000191:economics*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055820:New Orleans / Q000208:ethnology; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult