Three new reports on alcohol use and misuse published today

4 May 2017 03:24 PM

Statistics on Alcohol, England, 2017 acts as a reference point for health issues relating to alcohol use and misuse by providing information obtained from a number of sources² including newly published information on:

• Alcohol related hospital admissions published by Public Health England recently in their Local Alcohol Profiles for England (LAPE) which uses data from NHS Digital's¹ Hospital Episode Statistics (HES)³.
• Adult drinking behaviour published by the Office for National Statistics recently from Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN): Drinking Habits Amongst Adults⁴.

Other topics included in Statistics on Alcohol are:

• Deaths related to alcohol misuse (England and Wales)⁵
• Alcohol use among children (England)⁶
• Expenditure on Alcohol (England)

Read the full report at: http://digital.nhs.uk/pubs/alcohol17

Local Alcohol Profiles for England (LAPE) is available at: http://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/local-alcohol-profiles

Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN): Drinking Habits Amongst Adults is available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/drugusealcoholandsmoking/bulletins/opinionsandlifestylesurveyadultdrinkinghabitsingreatbritain/2015

Notes to editors

1. NHS Digital is the national information and technology provider for the health and care system. Our team of information analysis, technology and project management experts create, deliver and manage the crucial digital systems, services, products and standards upon which health and care professionals depend. During the 2015/16 financial year, NHS Digital published 294 statistical reports. Our vision is to harness the power of information and technology to make health and care better. NHS Digital is the new trading name for the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). We provide 'Information and Technology for better health and care'. Find out more about our role and remit atwww.digital.nhs.uk
2. Newly published data includes:

• Alcohol related hospital admissions published by PHE in their Local Alcohol Profiles for England (LAPE) which uses data from NHS Digital's Hospital Episode Statistics (HES)
• Adult Drinking Habits published by ONS which is based on the Opinions and Lifestyles Survey (OPN)
• New analyses of data on deaths and affordability of alcohol, both from ONS
• Information on the volume and cost of prescriptions from NHS Digital

The latest information from already published sources includes:

• Health Survey for England (HSE)
• Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use (SDD)
• What About Youth (WAY)
• Family Food report from the Living Costs and Food Survey (LCFS)

3. Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) contains details of all admissions to NHS hospitals in England. It includes private patients treated in NHS hospitals, patients who were resident outside of England and care delivered by treatment centres (including those in the independent sector) funded by the NHS. The HES data presented in this report are for inpatients only, so do not reflect all hospital activity. This should be considered when interpreting the data as practice may vary over time and between regions. In particular, practices vary between hospitals as to whether some procedures are carried out or recorded in outpatient or inpatient settings and any changes in recording and clinical practice can affect the trends in this report.
4. The main source of data for drinking behaviours among adults is the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN): Drinking Habits Amongst Adults carried out by the Office for National Statistics. This is an annual survey covering adults aged 16 and over living in private households in Great Britain.
5. Mortality data are sourced from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which uses the national statistics definition of alcohol-related deaths which only includes conditions which are wholly attributable to alcohol.
6. Information is provided from Smoking, Drinking and Drug use among Young People in England (SDD)which surveys pupils in secondary schools across England to provide national estimates and information on the smoking, drinking and drug use behaviours of young people aged 11 - 15.