Journal Articles
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915
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Item Using the International Alcohol Control (IAC) policy index to assess effects of legislative change in Aotearoa New Zealand.(BioMed Central Ltd, 2024-06-11) Casswell S; Randerson S; Parker K; Huckle TBACKGROUND: The IAC Policy Index was developed to allow comparison in alcohol policy between countries and within countries over time including in low resource settings. It measures four effective alcohol policies and takes into account stringency of regulation and the actual impact on the alcohol environment, such as trading hours and prices paid. This framework was used to assess policy in Aotearoa New Zealand in a time period covering two relevant legislative changes. This is the first study to use an alcohol policy index to assess and describe legislative change within country. METHODS: Data to calculate the IAC Policy Index was collected for 2013 and 2022. Stringency of policy was assessed from legislative statutes and impacts of policy on the alcohol environment from administrative data and specifically designed data collection. RESULTS: The overall IAC Policy Index score improved over the time period. The scores for the separate policy areas reflected the legislative changes as hypothesised, but also independent changes in impact, given ecological changes including reduced enforcement of drink driving countermeasures and increased exposure to marketing in digital channels. The IAC Policy index reflects the changes in policy status observed in Aotearoa, NZ. DISCUSSION: The IAC Policy Index provided a useful framework to assess and describe change in alcohol legislation contextualised by other influences on policy impact over time within a country. The results indicated the value of assessing stringency and impact separately as these moved independently. CONCLUSIONS: The IAC Alcohol Policy Index, measuring both stringency and actual impact on the alcohol environment with a focus on only the most effective alcohol policies provides meaningful insights into within-country policy strength over time. The IAC Policy Index used over time can communicate to policy makers successes and gaps in alcohol policy.Item Effective alcohol policies are associated with reduced consumption among demographic groups who drink heavily.(Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Research Society on Alcohol, 2023-04-23) Casswell S; Huckle T; Parker K; Graydon-Guy T; Leung J; Parry C; Torun P; Sengee G; Pham C; Gray-Phillip G; Callinan S; Chaiyasong S; MacKintosh AM; Meier P; Randerson SBACKGROUND: Alcohol policies stand out among other noncommunicable disease-relevant policies for the lack of uptake. Composite indicators have been developed to measure the effects of alcohol control policy. We investigated whether drinking patterns among demographic groups from general population samples of drinkers from diverse countries are associated with alcohol control policy as measured by the International Alcohol Control (IAC) Policy Index. METHODS: Representative samples of adult drinkers from 10 countries (five high-income and five middle-income) were surveyed about alcohol consumption, using beverage and location-specific questions. MEASUREMENTS: The IAC Policy Index was analyzed with frequency, typical occasion quantity, and volume consumed. Analyses used mixed models that included interactions between country IAC Policy Index score and age group, gender, and education level. FINDINGS: Each increase in IAC policy index score (reflecting more effective alcohol policy) was associated with a 13.9% decrease in drinking frequency (p = 0.006) and a 16.5% decrease in volume (p = 0.001). With each increase in IAC Policy Index score, both genders decreased for all three measures, but men less so than women. Women decreased their typical occasion quantity by 1.2% (p = 0.006), frequency by 3.1% (p < 0.001), and total volume by 4.2% (p < 0.001) compared to men. Low and mid-education groups decreased their typical occasion quantity by 2.6% (p < 0.001) and 1.6% (p = 0.001), respectively, compared to high education, while for drinking frequency the low education group increased by 7.0% (p < 0.001). There was an overall effect of age (F = 19.27, p < 0.0001), with 18-19 and 20-24-year-olds showing the largest decreases in typical occasion quantity with increasing IAC policy index score. CONCLUSIONS: The IAC Policy Index, reflecting four effective policies, was associated with volume and frequency of drinking across 10 diverse countries. Each increase in the IAC Policy Index was associated with lower typical quantities consumed among groups reporting heavy drinking: young adults and less well-educated. There is value in implementing such alcohol policies and a need to accelerate their uptake globally.Item Effective alcohol policies and lifetime abstinence: An analysis of the International Alcohol Control policy index(John Wiley and Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs, 2023-03) Leung J; Casswell S; Parker K; Huckle T; Romeo J; Graydon-Guy T; Byron K; Callinan S; Chaiyasong S; Gordon R; Harker N; MacKintosh AM; Meier P; Paraje G; Parry CD; Pham C; Williams PP; Randerson S; Schelleman-Offermans K; Sengee G; Torun P; van Dalen WIntroduction Alcohol abstinence remains common among adults globally, although low and middle-income countries are experiencing declines in abstention. The effect of alcohol policies on lifetime abstinence is poorly understood. The International Alcohol Control (IAC) policy index was developed to benchmark and monitor the uptake of effective alcohol policies and has shown strong associations with alcohol per capita consumption and drinking patterns. Uniquely, the index incorporates both policy ‘stringency’ and ‘impact’, reflecting policy implementation and enforcement, across effective policies. Here we assessed the association of the IAC policy index with lifetime abstinence in a diverse sample of jurisdictions. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the relationship between the IAC policy index score, and its components, and lifetime abstinence among adults (15+ years) in 13 high and middle-income jurisdictions. We examined the correlations for each component of the index and stringency and impact separately. Results Overall, the total IAC policy index scores were positively correlated with lifetime abstinence (r = 0.76), as were both the stringency (r = 0.62) and impact (r = 0.82) scores. Marketing restrictions showed higher correlations with lifetime abstinence than other policy domains (r = 0.80), including restrictions on physical availability, pricing policies and drink-driving prevention. Discussion and Conclusion Our findings suggest that restricting alcohol marketing could be an important policy for the protection of alcohol abstention. The IAC policy index may be a useful tool to benchmark the performance of alcohol policy in supporting alcohol abstention in high and middle-income countries.Item Barriers and Facilitators to the Implementation of Effective Alcohol Control Policies: A Scoping Review(MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2022-06) Jankhotkaew J; Casswell S; Huckle T; Chaiyasong S; Phonsuk PImplementation of effective alcohol control policies is a global priority. However, at the global and national levels, implementing effective policies is still challenging, as it requires commitment from multiple stakeholders. This review provides a synthesis of barriers and facilitators to implementing effective alcohol control policies. We conducted a scoping review from two main databases: Scopus and Web of Science, and the grey literature from the World Health Organization’s website. We included any studies investigating barriers and facilitators to implementing four effective policies: Alcohol pricing and taxation, control of physical availability, alcohol marketing control, and drink-driving policy. Articles published between 2000 and 2021 were included. The search yielded 11,651 articles, which were reduced to 21 after the assessment of eligibility criteria. We found five main barriers: resource constraint; legal loopholes; lack of evidence to support policy implementation, particularly local evidence; low priority of policy implementation among responsible agencies; and insufficient skills of implementers. Facilitators, which were scarce, included establishing monitoring systems and local evidence to support policy implementation and early engagement of implementing agencies and communities. We recommend that national governments pay more attention to potential barriers and facilitators while designing alcohol control regulations and implementing effective policies.Item Quantitative tools and measurements for assessing the implementation of regulatory policies in reducing alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms: A scoping review(John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd on behalf of Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs, 2023-01) Jankhotkaew J; Casswell S; Huckle T; Chaiyasong S; Phonsuk PIssues Implementation of alcohol control policy is a global priority as alcohol contributes to negative individual health and societal impacts. However, there are no available reviews that comprehensively provide tools and measurements for assessing the implementation of alcohol control policy. This study reviews tools and measurements for assessing alcohol policy implementation. Policies considered include alcohol pricing and taxation, alcohol marketing control, physical availability control and drink-driving policy. Approach We conducted a scoping review from Scopus, Web of Science and the World Health Organization's website. We included studies on policy implementation for the four most effective prevention policies published worldwide between 2000 and 2021. Key Findings The search yielded 11,654 articles and these were narrowed down to 39 included studies. Of these 39 studies, almost half assessed the implementation of a drink-driving policy (n = 19), followed multipolicy (n = 12) and physical availability control (n = 8). There was no single study assessing policy implementation of pricing and taxation or alcohol marketing control. The majority of the studies were conducted in high-income countries (n = 31). Globally, there is no standardised tool or guidelines for measuring the policy implementation of these four policies. The tools for measuring policy implementation mostly focused on a single policy, and few covered multiple policies. Implications We recommend developing standardised tools and measurements to monitor policy implementation across multiple policies at country levels. Conclusion This review highlighted a lack of comprehensive and standardised tools to assess policy implementation and the limited number of studies on alcohol policy implementation in low- and middle-income countries.Item Support for alcohol policies among drinkers in Mongolia, New Zealand, Peru, South Africa, St Kitts and Nevis, Thailand and Vietnam: Data from the International Alcohol Control Study(Wiley, 2018-08) Parry CDH; Londani M; Enkhtuya P; Huckle T; Piazza M; Gray-Phillip G; Chaiyasong S; Viet Cuong P; Casswell SIntroduction and Aims A 2010 World Health Assembly resolution called on member states to intensify efforts to address alcohol-related harm. Progress has been slow. This study aims to determine the magnitude of public support for 12 alcohol policies and whether it differs by country, demographic factors and drinking risk (volume consumed). Design and Methods Data are drawn from seven countries participating in the International Alcohol Control Study which used country-specific sampling methods designed to obtain random, representative samples. The weighted total sample comprised 11 494 drinkers aged 16–65 years. Results Drinking risk was substantial (24% ‘increased’ risk and 16% ‘high’ risk) and was particularly high in South Africa. Support varied by alcohol policy, ranging from 12% to 96%, but was above 50% for 79% of the possible country/policy combinations. Across countries, policy support was generally higher for policies addressing drink driving and increasing the alcohol purchase age. There was less support for policies increasing the price of alcohol, especially when funds were not earmarked. Policy support differed by country, and was generally higher in the five middle-income countries than in New Zealand. It also differed by age, gender, education, quantity/frequency of drinking, risk category and country income level. Discussion and Conclusions We found a trend in policy support, generally being highest in the low–middle-income countries, followed by high–middle-income countries and then high-income countries. Support from drinkers for a range of alcohol policies is extensive across all countries and could be used as a catalyst for further policy action.