OBJECTIVE: To document rates of serious injuries in relation to government alcohol restrictions in remote Australian Indigenous communities. DESIGN AND SETTING: An ecological study using Royal Flying Doctor Service injury retrieval data, before and after changes in legal access to alcohol in four remote Australian Indigenous communities, Queensland, 1 January 1996-31 July 2010. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in rates of aeromedical retrievals for serious injury, and proportion of retrievals for serious injury, before and after alcohol restrictions. RESULTS: After alcohol restrictions were introduced in 2002-2003, retrieval rates for serious injury dropped initially, and then increased in the 2 years before further restrictions in 2008 (average increase, 2.34 per 1000 per year). This trend reversed in the 2 years after the 2008 restrictions (average decrease, 7.97 per 1000 per year). There was a statistically significant decreasing time trend in serious-injury retrieval rates in each of the four communities for the period 2 years before the 2002-2003 restrictions, 2 years before the 2008 restrictions, and the final 2 years of observations (2009-2010) (P < 0.001 for all four communities combined). Overall, serious-injury retrieval rates dropped from 30 per 1000 in 2008 to 14 per 1000 in 2010, and the proportions of serious-injury retrievals decreased significantly for all four communities. CONCLUSION: The absolute and the proportional rates of serious-injury retrievals fell significantly as government restrictions on legal access to alcohol increased; they are now at their lowest recorded level in 15 years.
OBJECTIVE: To document rates of serious injuries in relation to government alcohol restrictions in remote Australian Indigenous communities. DESIGN AND SETTING: An ecological study using Royal Flying Doctor Service injury retrieval data, before and after changes in legal access to alcohol in four remote Australian Indigenous communities, Queensland, 1 January 1996-31 July 2010. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in rates of aeromedical retrievals for serious injury, and proportion of retrievals for serious injury, before and after alcohol restrictions. RESULTS: After alcohol restrictions were introduced in 2002-2003, retrieval rates for serious injury dropped initially, and then increased in the 2 years before further restrictions in 2008 (average increase, 2.34 per 1000 per year). This trend reversed in the 2 years after the 2008 restrictions (average decrease, 7.97 per 1000 per year). There was a statistically significant decreasing time trend in serious-injury retrieval rates in each of the four communities for the period 2 years before the 2002-2003 restrictions, 2 years before the 2008 restrictions, and the final 2 years of observations (2009-2010) (P < 0.001 for all four communities combined). Overall, serious-injury retrieval rates dropped from 30 per 1000 in 2008 to 14 per 1000 in 2010, and the proportions of serious-injury retrievals decreased significantly for all four communities. CONCLUSION: The absolute and the proportional rates of serious-injury retrievals fell significantly as government restrictions on legal access to alcohol increased; they are now at their lowest recorded level in 15 years.
Authors: Alan R Clough; Michelle S Fitts; Jan A Robertson; Anthony Shakeshaft; Adrian Miller; Christopher M Doran; Reinhold Muller; Valmae Ypinazar; David Martin; Robyn McDermott; Rob Sanson-Fisher; Simon Towle; Stephen A Margolis; Caryn West Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2014-01-09 Impact factor: 3.295
Authors: Alan R Clough; Stephen A Margolis; Adrian Miller; Anthony Shakeshaft; Christopher M Doran; Robyn McDermott; Robert Sanson-Fisher; Valmae Ypinazar; David Martin; Jan A Robertson; Michelle S Fitts; Katrina Bird; Bronwyn Honorato; Simon Towle; Caryn West Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2017-01-10 Impact factor: 3.295
Authors: Janani Muhunthan; Blake Angell; Maree L Hackett; Andrew Wilson; Jane Latimer; Anne-Marie Eades; Stephen Jan Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2017-03-27 Impact factor: 2.692
Authors: Adrian Esterman; Fintan Thompson; Michelle Fitts; John Gilroy; Jennifer Fleming; Paul Maruff; Alan Clough; India Bohanna Journal: Inj Epidemiol Date: 2018-11-12
Authors: Leah Johnston; Joyce Doyle; Bec Morgan; Sharon Atkinson-Briggs; Bradley Firebrace; Mayatili Marika; Rachel Reilly; Margaret Cargo; Therese Riley; Kevin Rowley Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2013-08-09 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: Michelle S Fitts; Jan Robertson; Simon Towle; Chris M Doran; Robyn McDermott; Adrian Miller; Stephen Margolis; Valmae Ypinazar; Alan R Clough Journal: BMC Res Notes Date: 2017-08-01
Authors: Alan R Clough; Michelle S Fitts; Reinhold Muller; Valmae Ypinazar; Stephen Margolis Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2018-09-17 Impact factor: 3.295