This section presents information on the number of hospital admissions for diseases, injuries and conditions that can be attributed to alcohol consumption.
Estimates of the number of alcohol-related hospital admissions have been calculated by applying alcohol-attributable fractions (AAFs)1 to Hospital Episode Statistics data.
Two measures for alcohol-related hospital admissions have been used:
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Narrow measure – where the main reason for admission to hospital was attributable to alcohol2.
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Broad measure – where the primary reason for hospital admission or a secondary diagnosis was linked to alcohol.
The narrow measure estimates the number of hospital admissions which are primarily due to alcohol consumption and provides the best indication of trends in alcohol-related hospital admissions.
The broad measure gives an indication of the full impact of alcohol on hospital admissions and the burden placed on the NHS.
1. An AAF is the proportion of a condition assessed to have been caused by alcohol. See appendix B for more details.
2. An alcohol-related disease, injury or condition was the primary reason for a hospital admission or an alcohol-related external cause was recorded in a secondary diagnosis field.