This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Correction  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (16)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Arva Y. Chiu, MD; Pedro E. Perez, MD; Robert Nash Parker, PhD

JAMA. 1997;278(21):1775-1777.

Abstract
Context.
—Community availability of alcohol affects alcohol consumption patterns and alcohol-related health and social problems. In Barrow, Alaska, an isolated community at the northernmost reaches of the United States, during a 33-month period, possession and importation of alcohol were legal, completely banned, made legal again, and then banned again.

Objective.
—To determine the impact of these public policy changes on alcohol-related outpatient visits at the area hospital.

Design.
—Retrospective review of outpatient records; time-series analysis of alcohol-related visits with respect to community alcohol policy.

Main Outcome Measures.
—Total monthly outpatient visits for alcohol-related problems.

Results.
—There was a substantial decrease in the number of alcohol-related outpatient visits when the ban on possession and importation was imposed compared with baseline. When the ban was lifted, outpatient visits increased; when the ban was reimposed, the number of outpatient visits again decreased. Interrupted time-series analyses confirm that the alcohol ban, its lifting, and its reimposition had a statistically significant and negative effect on the number of alcohol-related out-patient visits (P<.05).

Conclusion.
—In a geographically isolated community, the prohibition of alcohol can be an effective public health intervention, reducing the health problems associated with alcohol use.

Author Affiliations
From the North Slope Borough Physician Services (Dr Chiu) and Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital Physician Services (Dr Perez), Barrow, Alaska, and the Prevention Research Center, Berkeley, Calif (Dr Parker). Dr Chiu is now with Tanana Valley Clinic, Fairbanks, Alaska, and Dr Parker is now with the Presley Center for Crime and Justice Studies, University of California, Riverside.

Footnotes
Reprints: Robert Nash Parker, PhD, Presley Center for Crime and Justice Studies, College Building South, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521 (e-mail: robnp@aol.com).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Marijuana Initiation in 2 American Indian Reservation Communities: Comparison With a National Sample
Whitesell et al.
AJPH 2007;97:1311-1318.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

ALCOHOL USE AND CULTURAL CHANGE IN AN INDIGENOUS POPULATION: A CASE STUDY FROM VENEZUELA
Seale et al.
Alcohol Alcohol 2002;37:603-608.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Injury as a Field of Public Health: Achievements and Controversies
Bonnie and Guyer
J Law Med Ethics 2002;30:267-280.
 

Prohibition, Alcohol, and Murder: Untangling Countervailing Mechanisms
JENSEN
Homicide Studies 2000;4:18-36.
ABSTRACT  

Alcohol Problems and Public Health Policy
Gordis
JAMA 1997;278:1781-1782.