National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research strategic plan

Purpose: The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research (DEPR) developed a strategic plan to identify near term epidemiology and prevention research priorities for the United States. Method: Major categories of alcohol attributable mortality and morbidity and 20 year trends were explored. The DEPR research portfolio and recent research findings on those topics were reviewed. Results: Published research identified 75,000 alcohol attributable deaths in the U.S. in 2001, making alcohol measure the third leading preventable cause of death. Forty thousand deaths were acute, predominantly injury. The balance resulted from chronic diseases. Because injuries are the leading cause of death among persons ages 1-44, acute alcohol attributable deaths account for 2/3 of alcohol attributable preventable years of life lost. Because most fatally injured drivers are tested for alcohol, we know alcohol related traffic deaths per population have been halved in the last 2 decades preventing over 150,000 deaths. Lack of consistent alcohol testing for other injury deaths and other methodologic issues limit our ability to track other alcohol attributable death trends. Conclusions: Priority research needs to enhance knowledge regarding 1)measurement and trends in alcohol attributable mortality and morbidity 2)understanding alcohol/nutrition interactions across the life span (including chronic disease) 3)expansion of screening and brief interventions among underage and young adult populations 4)improvement of comprehensive community interventions to reduce alcohol misuse, injury and other problems 5)special populations, and the impact of alcohol promotion and policies on health.