Age, Period, and Cohort Effects on Time Trends in Alcohol Consumption in the German Adult Population : Alters-, Perioden- und Kohorteneinflüsse auf Trends im Alkoholkonsum in der deutschen Allgemeinbevölkerung

There are two broad classes of models used to address the econometric problems caused by skewness in data commonly encountered in health care applications: (1) transformation to deal with skewness (e.g., ordinary least square (OLS) on ln(y)); and (2) alternative weighting approaches based on exponential conditional models (ECM) and generalized linear model (GLM) approaches. In this paper, we encompass these two classes of models using the three parameter generalized Gamma (GGM) distribution, which includes several of the standard alternatives as special cases-OLS with a normal error, OLS for the log-normal, the standard Gamma and exponential with a log link, and the Weibull. Using simulation methods, we find the tests of identifying distributions to be robust. The GGM also provides a potentially more robust alternative estimator to the standard alternatives. An example using inpatient expenditures is also analyzed.

To describe the research, policy and prevention implications of pre-drinking or pre-gaming; that is, planned heavy drinking prior to going to a public drinking establishment. The authors describe the phenomenon of pre-drinking, motivations for pre-drinking and its associated risks using available research literature, media and popular internet vehicles. Heavy drinking prior to going out has emerged as a common and celebrated practice among young adults around the world. Apparent motivations are: (i) to avoid paying for high priced drinks at commercial drinking establishments; (ii) to achieve drunkenness and enhance and extend the night out; and (iii) to socialize with friends, reduce social anxiety or enhance male group bonding before going out. Limited existing research on pre-drinking suggests that it is associated with heavy drinking and harmful consequences. We argue that policies focused upon reducing drinking in licensed premises may have the unintended consequence of displacing drinking to pre-drinking environments, possibly resulting in greater harms. Effective policy and prevention for drinking in licensed premises requires a comprehensive approach that takes into account the entire drinking occasion (not just drinking that occurs in the licensed environment), as well as the 'determined drunkenness' goal of some young people.