1999 to 2020 Saw Twofold Increase in Alcohol-Related Mortality in the U.S.

Increases of 2.5-fold seen for women, 2.4-fold for Asians and Pacific Islanders, 2.5-fold in the Midwest

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Nov. 25, 2024 (HealthDay News) — From 1999 to 2020, there was a significant approximately twofold increase in alcohol-related mortality in the United States, according to a study published online Nov. 10 in The American Journal of Medicine.

Alexandra Matarazzo, from the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, and colleagues explored trends in alcohol-related mortality from 1999 to 2020 overall and by age, gender, race, and region using publicly available data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research.

The researchers identified 19,356 alcohol-related deaths in 1999, for a mortality rate of 10.7 per 100,000. By 2020, this number increased to 48,870 alcohol-related deaths or 21.6 per 100,000. The mortality rate ratio was significantly increased by about twofold. Significant increases were seen in all 10-year age groups, with those aged 25 to 34 years having the largest increase (3.8-fold). Increases of 2.5-fold were seen for women, 2.4-fold for Asians and Pacific Islanders, and 2.5-fold for the Midwest region.

“These data demonstrate significant twofold increasing trends in U.S. mortality from deaths in alcohol-related mortality from 1999 to 2020,” the authors write. “They [create] significant clinical and public health challenges as well as the need for further research.”

One author disclosed ties to Amgen and UBC.