Document Detail


Minimum-age drinking laws and youth suicide, 1970-1990.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  10474554     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
OBJECTIVES: This study examined the association between the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) and suicides among youths aged 18 to 20 years. METHODS: The study used pooled cross-sectional time-series data on youth suicide and the MLDA for the 48 contiguous states in the United States from 1970 to 1990. Poisson regression was used to estimate the association between MLDA and youth suicide. RESULTS: A significant association exists between MLDA and youth suicide. Between 1970 and 1990, the suicide rate of 18- to 20-year-old youths living in states with an 18-year MLDA was 8% higher than the suicide rate among 18- to 20-year-old youths in states with a 21-year MLDA (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: MLDA is associated not only with the motor-vehicle death rate among youths but also with the rate of youth suicide. We estimate that lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 years in all states could increase the number of suicides in the 18- to 20-year-old population by approximately 125 each year.
Authors:
J Birckmayer; D Hemenway
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Meta-Analysis; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.    
Journal Detail:
Title:  American journal of public health     Volume:  89     ISSN:  0090-0036     ISO Abbreviation:  Am J Public Health     Publication Date:  1999 Sep 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  1999-09-22     Completed Date:  1999-09-22     Revised Date:  2009-11-18    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  1254074     Medline TA:  Am J Public Health     Country:  UNITED STATES    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  1365-8     Citation Subset:  AIM; IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Mass. 02115, USA.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Accidents, Traffic / mortality,  statistics & numerical data,  trends
Adolescent
Adult
Age Distribution
Age Factors
Alcohol Drinking / legislation & jurisprudence*,  trends*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Population Surveillance
Regression Analysis
Risk Factors
Suicide / statistics & numerical data*,  trends*
United States / epidemiology
Grant Support
ID/Acronym/Agency:
1R01AAO9779-01A2/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS
Comments/Corrections

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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