The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) is to undertake a study to estimate the risk of alcohol-related mortality and hospital admission in Ireland associated with different levels of alcohol consumption.
It said the findings will support an update of Ireland’s low-risk alcohol guidelines, which were revised in 2015 to less than 11 standard drinks for women and less than 17 standard drinks for men per week.
Michelle O’Neill, Deputy Director of Health Technology Assessment, said: “Alcohol consumption is a major risk factor for mortality and disability worldwide. Many adults in Ireland consume alcohol. In order to make informed decisions, they should have access to accurate information about the risks.
“We are conducting this work to inform an update of the national low-risk alcohol guidelines by the Department of Health. These guidelines provide information on the risks associated with alcohol consumption, in addition to providing guidance on drinking levels associated with lower risk, and on situations when drinking is not safe.”
Hiqa said that in light of new evidence that has emerged nationally and internationally over the past decade, the Department of Health is planning to update Ireland’s guidelines.
“To support this update, HIQA will estimate the risks of mortality and hospital admission associated with different levels and patterns of alcohol consumption. Defined risk thresholds will inform what constitutes lower-risk drinking. The approach used will be similar to those that have been taken in Australia, Canada, and the UK in their most recent updates to their low-risk alcohol guidelines.”
An Expert Advisory Group has been convened to guide the project. It includes representatives from the Department of Health, patient advocates, and experts in alcohol epidemiology, public health, addiction, primary care, and dietetics.
The Government recently decided to defer health labelling on alcoholic drinks until 2029 due to costs to business as well the impact of US tariffs.
The protocol for the study states that the effect of alcohol on the risk of developing some health conditions is understood to be the result of long-term exposure.
Estimates are available for the latency period between alcohol consumption and the resultant onset of some conditions, such as several cancers, alcoholic polyneuropathy – where multiple peripheral nerves become damaged – and degeneration of the nervous system due to alcohol.
For example, a review noted latency periods of 11–12 years for breast, colorectal, oral cavity and pharynx, and oesophagus cancers and of 8– 9 years for larynx and liver cancers across 15 high-quality cohort studies.
Three sets of risk estimates will be derived separately for males and females.
“These will describe three consumption metrics and their relationship with acute and or chronic conditions – mean weekly consumption and risk of chronic alcohol-related conditions .”
It will also involve looking at peak daily consumption of the last 12 months and risk of acute alcohol-related conditions.
The examination will look at mean weekly consumption distributed evenly over one to seven days and risk of all alcohol-related health conditions.
Alcohol consumption levels and patterns in the population will be assessed using weekly average consumption, based on the estimated alcohol intake over a specific period by considering both the typical number of standard drinks consumed per week and the number of days drinking.
Also heavy episodic drinking, based on the highest number of drinks consumed on a single occasion within a specific period, will be looked at in the study.