The who, what, where, when and why of adults’ drinking occasions and their association with acute alcohol-related harm: a systematic review

Background

Event-level research can link the context of drinking events - such as the location, timing, motivation and participants - to consumption levels and immediate harm outcomes. The emerging literature in this area is diverse and fragmented; Gathering the findings of papers on acute alcohol-related harm will enable purposive and efficient future research. This paper will therefore identify the contextual characteristics of adults’ drinking occasions that are associated with acute alcohol-related harm.

Methods

We systematically searched Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid PsycInfo, and the Web of Science Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). Eligible papers used quantitative study designs and event-level data collection methods. They also linked one or more contextual features of adults’ drinking occasions – categorised as location, company, drink type, motivation or timing features - to acute alcohol-related harm. Following quality assessment, we extracted the statistical analysis methods used, and narratively synthesised the findings presented. PROSPERO registration ID: CRD42018119701.

Results

Systematic searches found 7,248 records, resulting in 94 eligible papers. Analysis is ongoing and results will include quality appraisal, statistical analysis methods and narrative synthesis of findings. Preliminary findings suggest that aggregate measures of acute harm (e.g. a dichotomous measure of any harm being reported during the last drinking occasion) are commonly used and there are few studies on specific harms such as hospital admission.

Conclusions

We will gather the existing evidence on drinking contexts associated with harm to inform further research, public health policy-making and a planned epidemiological study.