RSA Update: Does Liquor Outlet Density Affect Residents Health?

By Peter Cutforth

February 6, 2013

alcohol consumption, Responsible Service of Alcohol, RSA course, RSA Update

A question that often faces the community and authorities in charge of issuing liquor licences is whether or not the density of liquor outlets and licenced venues in a neighbourhood has an effect on the health of people in that neighbourhood.

Many believe that the more licenced venues and outlets an area has, the more difficult it is to enforce responsible service of alcohol laws.

Now new research by the University of Western Australia has determined that people with more liquor outlets in their neighbourhood do in fact have higher levels of harmful/ binge drinking and also suffer from worse mental health that those who live a further distance away from outlets.

The study funded by Healthway was published in a prestigious online US journal called PLOS One and is important because most research on alcohol outlet density in the past has focused only on violence, crime, safety and vehicle crashes. The findings of the research are particularly significant because it supports the plan by the WA Health Department to establish a healthier WA,part of the plan is to limit the density of alcohol outlets.

The research found that the rate of alcohol consumption and harmful alcohol consumption in particular increased as the number of alcohol outlets in the neighbourhood also increased. This also has an effect on the mental health of the neighbourhood as well because the study shows that more people had to be treated for anxiety, depression and stress in areas that were more densely filled with liquor outlets.

What the research proves is that authorities concerns about alcohol outlet density is valid and limiting the number of outlets in a particular area is warranted.

Read the post below which elaborates on the research from www.news.uwa.edu.au:

Co-author Associate Professor Lisa Wood, Deputy Director of UWA’s Centre for the Built Environment and Health, said the study reinforced the WA Health Department’s five-year plan for a healthier WA.

“One of the suggestions in the five-year plan is limiting the density of alcohol outlets,” she said.

“We found that the average number of standard drinks per day and the rate of harmful alcohol consumption increased for each additional alcohol outlet in a neighbourhood.”

The researchers also found that the likelihood of being treated in hospital for anxiety, stress or depression increased as the number of alcohol outlets within walking distance (1600m) of home increased.

“While the association between alcohol outlet density and injury, crime and violence are well documented, this is one of the first studies internationally to specifically look at how this might impact on mental health disorders,” Associate Professor Wood said.

The study was based on Department of Health survey data from nearly 7000 Perth-based adults, and used geographical mapping to link this to the location of all licensed alcohol outlets in Perth.

“Our findings underscore the importance of limiting both the number of liquor store licences and the geographic density of outlets as a way to improve mental health and reduce other alcohol-related harm,” Associate Professor Wood said.