TABLE 1
FROM:
Do relaxed trading hours for bars and clubs mean more relaxed drinking? A review of international research on the impacts of changes to permitted hours of drinking
Tim Stockwell and Tanya Chikritzhs
BACK TO ARTICLETable 1. Summary of studies with baseline and control observations
| First author, year, location, type of publication | Description | Results | Potential confounding/limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Smith (1978)
Australia (peer reviewed) | Examined effect of Sunday trading in Perth city on numbers of road traffic casualties. Used remainder of state as control region. | Significant increase for Sundays. | Unable to identify alcohol-related casualties and those associated with licensed premises. Could not rule out possibility of a temporal redistribution of crashes. |
|
Duffy and Plant (1986)
The United Kingdom (peer reviewed) | Examined effect of 1-hour increase in closing on liver cirrhosis and alcohol dependence deaths, total alcohol-related deaths, hospital admissions for drunkenness and drink-driving in Scotland. Used England and Wales as control region. | No significant negative effects. Apparent decrease in public drunkenness. | Concurrent economic recession, relative price increase for alcohol and changes to policing. Did not consider potential lagged effects associated with measures of chronic harm. |
|
Smith (1988a)
Australia (peer reviewed) | Examined effect of four-hour closing time increase on road traffic casualties. Used time of day as an internal control. | Significant overall increase. | Unable to identify alcohol-related crashes and those associated with licensed premises. |
|
Smith (1988b)
Australia (peer reviewed) | Examined effect of Sunday trading in Brisbane city on numbers of road traffic casualties and property damage crashes. Used remainder of state as control region. | Significant overall increases for both measures. | Numbers instead of rates were used. Unable to identify alcohol-related casualties and those associated with licensed premises. |
|
Smith (1988c)
Australia (peer reviewed) | Examined effect of change from 2200 hours close to 'free' closing times in Tasmania on numbers of road traffic casualties. Used time of day as an internal control and South Australia as an external control. | No significant overall change. Significant increase between 2200 and 0600 hours and accidents more likely to occur after midnight. | Total numbers of trading hours for hotels did not change. |
|
Smith (1990)
Australia (peer reviewed) | Examined effect of initial 2-hour closing time increase for Sundays and subsequent 8-hour increase on Sunday in numbers of road traffic casualties. Used time of day as an internal control. | Significant increase after closing time following 8-hour increase. No change for smaller 2-hour increase on Sunday. No evidence of decline during other time periods. Overall increase in traffic casualties. | Few licensed premises responded to the initial 2-hour extension. Unable to identify alcohol-related casualties and those associated with licensed premises. |
|
McLaughlin and Harrison-Stewart (1992)
Australia(peer reviewed) | Examined effect of a short-term closing time increase in City of Fremantle on consumption levels of 18–28-year-old man using residential survey. Used a Perth region as a control. | No significant change. Heavier drinkers in both areas most likely to report using extended trading hours. | Few respondents (local residents) actually attended licensed premises during the event. Atypical heavy police presence throughout the study period. Inadequate sample size for detecting a small effect. |
|
Pinot de Moira and Duffy (1995)
UK (peer reviewed) | Examined effect of 1-hour increase in closing on mortality rates for liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, alcoholic poisoning, alcohol dependence and alcoholic psychosis in England and Wales. Used Scotland as control region. | Significant increase in alcoholic poisoning, no change for other measures. | Problematic choice of control region (Scotland in economic recession). Inappropriate choice of alcohol measures (all long-term conditions with exception of poisoning). |
|
Gray et al (1998)
Australia (peer reviewed) | Examined effect of trading hour restrictions for licensed premises on local alcohol consumption levels in Tennant Creek community. Used whole of Northern Territory as a control region. | Significant decline in per capita alcohol consumption in Tennant Creek, no decline for the Northern Territory as a whole. | Range of concurrent interventions. Restrictions also affected off-premise sales. |
|
Chikritzhs and Stockwell (2002)
Australia (peer reviewed) | Examined effect of 1–2 hours closing time extension after midnight on police reported assaults and volumes of alcohol sales attributable to individual licensed premises in Perth. Used assaults associated with premises trading with standard hours as controls. | Significant increase in reported assaults and corresponding significant increase in volumes of high alcohol content beverage sales. Monthly assault rate doubled in extended hours premises and were not changed in control venues. | Could not determine whether significant increases were due to greater levels of alcohol consumption by individuals or greater numbers of patrons attending late trading premises (or both). Non-randomized premises. |
|
Vingilis et al (2005)
Canada/the United States (peer reviewed) | Examined effect of extended drinking hours from 0100 to 0200 on positive BAC driver traffic fatalities in Ontario on alcohol and non-alcohol-related traffic crash driver fatalities. Total Ontario fatalities and trends in New York and Michigan casualties used as controls. Also measured alcohol sales. | No significant change in alcohol-related driver fatalities. Overall beer consumption declined. | Limited statistical power. Limited use of extended hours by licensees. Lower BAC testing rates in control regions and concurrent road safety initiatives in operation. |
|
Vingilis et al (2006)
Canada/the United States (peer reviewed) | Examined effect of extended closing hours from 0100 to 0200 on alcohol-related road traffic casualties occurring in Windsor, Ontario. Used Detroit, Michigan USA as external control areas. Examined potential cross-border effects. | Significant increase in total and alcohol-related casualties in Windsor. No change in total casualties for the total Ontario region. Windsor increases partly due to 'repatriation' of Windsor drivers involved in crashes across border in neighbouring Detroit. No evidence of increased numbers of Detroit drivers crashed in Windsor. | Low uptake of extended hours in Ontario outside of Windsor city. |
|
Chikritzhs and Stockwell (2006)
Australia (peer reviewed) | Examined the effect of 1–2-hour closing time extension after midnight on numbers of positive BAC road traffic crashes, driver BAC levels and volumes of alcohol sales attributable to individual licensed premises in Perth. Used crashes associated with premises trading with standard hours as controls. | Significant increase when controlled for crashes associated with normally trading premises and the introduction of mobile breath testing stations to Perth freeways. Corresponding significant increases in high alcohol content beverage sales. No significant relation with driver BACs. | Could not determine whether higher numbers of crashes due to greater levels of alcohol consumption by individuals or greater numbers of patrons attending late trading premises (or both). Non-randomized premises. |
|
Chikritzhs and Stockwell (2007)
Australia (peer reviewed) | Examined the effect of 1–2-hour closing time extension after midnight on positive driver BAC levels among patrons of late trading premises by time of day, age and sex. Used driver BACs among patrons of normally trading premises as controls. | Male patrons of late trading premises aged 18–25 years and apprehended between midnight and 0200 hours had significantly higher BACs. Female patrons of late trading premises apprehended for drunk driving between 2200 hours and midnight (before closing time) had significantly lower BACs. | Non-randomized premises. Potential patron drinking at multiple locations. |
