Research Note: Patterns of Alcohol-Related Mortality in Russia

Abstract

The level of alcohol consumption in Russia is among the highest in the world and is often associated with a variety of problems in the country. Until recently, however, it was impossible to examine the health and social burdens associated with consumption in Russia due to Soviet secrecy surrounding vital statistics and health data related to alcohol and other topics. This study employed newly available mortality data to describe the demographic, temporal, and spatial patterns of mortality resulting directly from chronic and acute alcohol consumption in the country. The data reveal that in spite of high overall rates of alcohol-related mortality in Russia, levels of mortality vary considerably along these dimensions. Although descriptive in nature, the patterns of alcohol-related mortality in Russia presented here should provide initial observations with which to generate and test hypotheses concerning the causes and consequences of these patterns.