261198 Developing a Framework to Assess the Aggregate Alcohol Policy Environment in U.S. States

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 : 12:30 PM - 12:45 PM

Timothy S. Naimi, MD, MPH , Section of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
Ziming Xuan, ScD, SM, MA , Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA
Jason Blanchette, MPH , Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA
Thien Nguyen, MPH , Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA
Timothy Heeren, PhD , Biostatistics Department, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA
Toben F. Nelson, ScD , Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Background: Alcohol is a leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. While alcohol policies can reduce alcohol-related outcomes, most policies are studied individually. However, most policies are affected by the concurrent presence and adequacy of other policies. There has been no previous effort to characterize the aggregate alcohol policy environment in U.S. states. Methods: Policy selection, comparative policy effectiveness ratings for youth and adult outcomes, and within-policy implementation indices for 29 U.S. alcohol policies were developed with assistance from 10 alcohol policy experts using a modified Delphi process. Policy data from 1999-2011 were obtained from the Alcohol Policy Information System, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Tax Foundation, and other sources. By state and year, policies were weighted and aggregated based on their presence, theoretical effectiveness, and degree to which they were actually implemented. Results: This presentation will summarize the policy nomination and selection process, the comparative policy rating exercise, the development of within-policy implementation indices, and methods used to aggregate policies in the U.S. in order to characterize the policy environment by state and year in each of four domains: youth drinking, youth drinking and driving, adult binge drinking, and adult impaired driving. The descriptive epidemiology of state-specific policy scores in 2011 will be presented for the four aggregate policy domains. Conclusions: It is feasible to develop policy variables to characterize the aggregate alcohol policy environment in the U.S. Future analyses relating the policy environment to alcohol-related outcomes will be crucial for policy development and prevention efforts.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
1. Explain the rationale for characterizing and assessing the aggregate policy environment. 2. Describe the processes, data, and methods required to develop variables representing the aggregate policy environment. 3. Identify the limitations and potential public health applications of research related to the aggregate alcohol policy environment.

Keywords: Alcohol, Policy/Policy Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a physician and alcohol policy researcher at the Boston University School of Medicine, where I am also the Principal Investigator of the NIAAA grant funding this project.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.