Association between nightlife goers’ likelihood of an alcohol use disorder and preferred bar’s closing time
February 2022
Citation:
Gilmore, W.; Symons, M.; Liang, W.; Graham, K.; Kypri, K.; Miller, P.; Chikritzhs, T. Association between Nightlife Goers’ Likelihood of an Alcohol Use Disorder and Their Preferred Bar’s Closing Time: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study in Perth, Australia. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 13040. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182413040
Associations between longer-term alcohol-related conditions and licensed outlet trading hours are not well understood. This study investigated the association between nightlife-goers’ likelihood of an alcohol use disorder (AUD) and their preference for bars with special permits to remain open ‘late’ compared to bars with ‘standard’ closing times. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in four major nightlife areas of Perth, with street intercept surveys outside bars between 8pm and 3am.
A large proportion of participants were hazardous drinkers or had active AUD (83% males; 65% females), and over half preferred a late to a standard closing bar. We found evidence of a positive association between preference for late closing bars and hazardous drinking females.
This study adds new evidence for associations between likelihood of AUD among nightlife-goers and trading hours. With increasing international relaxation of trading hours, evidence that late closing bars may be preferred by hazardous drinking females will be of concern to policymakers wanting to curb alcohol-related harms in the community
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