title: The Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model - A Mathematical Description.
abstract: This methodology paper sets out a mathematical description of the Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model version 2.0, a model to evaluate public health strategies for alcohol harm reduction in the UK. Policies that can be appraised include a minimum price per unit of alcohol, restrictions on price discounting, and broader public health measures. The model estimates the impact on consumers, health services, crime, employers, retailers and government tax revenues. The synthesis of public and commercial data sources to inform the model structure is described. A detailed algebraic description of the model is provided. This involves quantifying baseline levels of alcohol purchasing and consumption by age and gender subgroups, estimating the impact of policies on consumption, for example, using evidence on price elasticities of demand for alcohol, quantification of risk functions relating alcohol consumption to harms including 47 health conditions, crimes, absenteeism and unemployment, and finally monetary valuation of the consequences. The results framework, shown for a minimum price per unit of alcohol, has been used to provide policy appraisals for the UK government policy-makers. In discussion and online appendix, we explore issues around valuation and scope, limitations of evidence/data, how the framework can be adapted to other countries and decisions, and ongoing plans for further development. © 2014 The Authors. Health Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Meier
authors.affiliation: Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Purshouse
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Rachid
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rafia
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hill-Macmanus
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Angus
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Holmes
keywords: alcohol; economic evaluation; modelling methodology; public health