SynthesisBMJ open2023
Impact of minimum unit pricing on alcohol-related hospital outcomes: systematic review.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed.
- Evaluating the immediate impacts of the repeal of the Northern Territory minimum unit price on off-premises alcohol pricing: Findings from an observational study of online alcohol retailers.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Observational
- The Impact of Northern Territory Alcohol Policy Changes on Adult Domestic and Family Violence Hospital Admissions.Drug and alcohol review · 2026Article
- The global epidemiology of alcohol-associated liver disease.Hepatology communications · 2026Review
- Reply to correspondence 2 on "Sex disparities in alcohol-associated liver disease and subtype differences in alcohol-attributable cancers in the United States".Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2026Article
- Letter to the editor on "Sex disparities in alcohol-associated liver disease and subtype differences in alcohol-attributable cancers in the United States".Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2026Article
- Global Research Trends in Community-Based Strategies for Reducing Risky Alcohol Consumption and Promoting Health.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Global Trends in Alcohol Control Policies Between 2010-2019.Research square · 2025Article
- "The alcohol-harm paradox": Understanding socioeconomic inequalities in liver disease.JHEP reports : innovation in hepatology · 2025Review
- Regional variations and trends in liver transplantation practices across Europe.JHEP reports : innovation in hepatology · 2025Article
- Public health policies to prevent alcohol-related liver disease.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2025Review
- An evaluation of the impact of a national Minimum Unit Price on alcohol policy on alcohol behaviours.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Article
- The alcohol harm paradox: is it valid for self-reported alcohol harms and does hazardous drinking pattern matter?BMC public health · 2024Article
- Adjusting the 15-method to Danish general practice: identification of barriers, facilitators, and user needs.BMC primary care · 2024Article
- The identification and treatment of alcohol problems in primary care (iTAPP) study: protocol for a stepped wedge cluster randomized control trial testing the 15-method in a primary care setting.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2024Article
- Estimating the Effects of Hypothetical Alcohol Minimum Unit Pricing Policies on Alcohol Use and Deaths: A State Example.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2024Article
- Can alcohol policy prevent harms to women and children from men's alcohol consumption? An overview of existing literature and suggested ways forward.The International journal on drug policy · 2023Review
- Evaluating the impact of alcohol minimum unit pricing on deaths and hospitalisations in Scotland: a controlled interrupted time series study.Lancet (London, England) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo determine the impact of minimum unit pricing (MUP) on the primary outcome of alcohol-related hospitalisation, and secondary outcomes of length of stay, hospital mortality and alcohol-related liver disease in hospital.
designDatabases MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, APA Psycinfo, CINAHL Plus and Cochrane Reviews were searched from 1 January 2011 to 11 November 2022. Inclusion criteria were studies evaluating the impact of minimum pricing policies, and we excluded non-minimum pricing policies or studies without alcohol-related hospital outcomes. The Effective Public Health Practice Project tool was used to assess risk of bias, and the Bradford Hill Criteria were used to infer causality for outcome measures.
settingMUP sets a legally required floor price per unit of alcohol and is estimated to reduce alcohol-attributable healthcare burden. PARTICIPANT: All studies meeting inclusion criteria from any country
interventionMinimum pricing policy of alcohol PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES:
results22 studies met inclusion criteria; 6 natural experiments and 16 modelling studies. Countries included Australia, Canada, England, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa and Wales. Modelling studies estimated that MUP could reduce alcohol-related admissions by 3%-10% annually and the majority of real-world studies demonstrated that acute alcohol-related admissions responded immediately and reduced by 2%-9%, and chronic alcohol-related admissions lagged by 2-3 years and reduced by 4%-9% annually. Minimum pricing could target the heaviest consumers from the most deprived groups who tend to be at greatest risk of alcohol harms, and in so doing has the potential to reduce health inequalities. Using the Bradford Hill Criteria, we inferred a 'moderate-to-strong' causal link that MUP could reduce alcohol-related hospitalisation.
conclusionsNatural studies were consistent with minimum pricing modelling studies and showed that this policy could reduce alcohol-related hospitalisation and health inequalities. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021274023.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.