scholarly journals Am I My Brother's Barkeeper? Sibling Spillovers in Alcohol Consumption at the Minimum Legal Drinking Age

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Schnorr ◽  
Eunju Lee

We use data on sibling pairs near the minimum legal drinking age to provide causal estimates of peer effects in alcohol consumption. Following prior work on other outcomes, we exploit the discontinuous increase in alcohol consumption of the older sibling at the legal drinking age in a regression discontinuity design. Our preferred point estimates imply that the number of binge drinking days reported by the younger sibling decreases by 27% of the mean at the cutoff. While our estimates are somewhat imprecise, we are consistently able to rule out positive estimates from the existing literature. Our research design provides estimates which are interpretable as the causal effect of the peer's alcohol consumption. This is in contrast to most prior work which instead identifies the causal effect of exposure to the peer. We explain how this distinction matters for policy.

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Carpenter ◽  
Carlos Dobkin

The Amethyst Initiative, signed by more than 100 college presidents and other higher education officials calls for a reexamination of the minimum legal drinking age in the United States. A central argument of the initiative is that the U.S. minimum legal drinking age policy results in more dangerous drinking than would occur if the legal drinking age were lower. A companion organization called Choose Responsibility explicitly proposes “a series of changes that will allow 18–20 year-olds to purchase, possess and consume alcoholic beverages.” Does the age-21 drinking limit in the United States reduce alcohol consumption by young adults and its harms, or as the signatories of the Amethyst Initiative contend, is it “not working”? In this paper, we summarize a large and compelling body of empirical evidence which shows that one of the central claims of the signatories of the Amethyst Initiative is incorrect: setting the minimum legal drinking age at 21 clearly reduces alcohol consumption and its major harms. We use a panel fixed effects approach and a regression discontinuity approach to estimate the effects of the minimum legal drinking age on mortality, and we also discuss what is known about the relationship between the minimum legal drinking age and other adverse outcomes such as nonfatal injury and crime. We document the effect of the minimum legal drinking age on alcohol consumption and estimate the costs of adverse alcohol-related events on a per-drink basis. Finally we consider implications for the correct choice of a minimum legal drinking age.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 1297-1324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ceren Ertan Yörük

Abstract This paper uses a regression discontinuity design to estimate the impact of the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) laws on alcohol consumption and labor market outcomes of young adults. Using confidential data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Cohort (NLSY97), I find that granting legal access to alcohol at age 21 leads to an increase in several measures of alcohol consumption. The discrete jump in the alcohol consumption at the MLDA has also negative spillover effects on the labor market outcomes of young adults. In particular, I document that the MLDA is associated with a 1 hour decrease in weekly working hours. However, the effect of the MLDA laws on wages is negative only under certain specifications. These results suggest that the policies designed to curb drinking may not only have desirable effects in reducing alcohol consumption among young adults but also have positive spillover effects on their labor market outcomes.


2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Carpenter ◽  
Carlos Dobkin

We estimate the effect of alcohol consumption on mortality using the minimum drinking age in a regression discontinuity design. We find large and immediate increases in drinking at age 21, including a 21 percent increase in recent drinking days. We also find a discrete 9 percent increase in the mortality rate at age 21, primarily due to motor vehicle accidents, alcohol-related deaths, and suicides. We estimate a 10 percent increase in the number of drinking days for young adults results in a 4.3 percent increase in mortality. Our results suggest policies that reduce drinking among young adults can have substantial public health benefits. (JEL I12, I18)


Author(s):  
Kassim R Dekhil ◽  
Ali abd-almer Jwad ◽  
Abbas Alyasiry

Nocturnal enuresis (NE) is an old & common childhood condition. It has been found that,there is a relationship between adenotonsillar hypertrophy in children & nocturnal enuresis. This study was conducted to see the effects of adenotonsillectomy on nocturnal enuresis in children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy.This study was conducted in Diwaniyah teaching hospital,Diwaniyah city,Iraq from May 2012 to August 2014. The total number of children admitted for adenotonsillectomy or tonsillectomy alone were 287. 76 children out of the total number were included in the study. The children were followed by the same questionnaire for four months postoperatively,including,age,the number of night bed wettings,type of enuresis and the results of urine examinationof total 287 children who were submitted for surgery,76 children were eligible for the study,48 (63.16%) of the total number included in the study were males and 28 (36.84%) were females. The mean age was 7.2 years. Adenotonsillectomy was performed in 64 children,and tonsillectomy in12 children. A complete improvement of nocturnal enuresis (NE) & daytime incontinence was achieved in 32 (42.11%) children. A mild to moderateimprovement was observed in 38 (50%),while no improvement seen in the remaining 6 (7.89%) children postoperatively.Nocturnal enuresis (NE) is an old & common childhood condition & there is a relation between nocturnal enuresis in children & adenotonsillar hypertrophy. Children with nocturnal enuresis should be evaluated by ENT surgeon to rule out any adenotonsillar hypertrophy for possible adenotonsillectomy effect. However,a wide base studies are needed to clarify these results.


Rheumatology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheilla Achieng ◽  
John A Reynolds ◽  
Ian N Bruce ◽  
Marwan Bukhari

Abstract Background/Aims  We aimed to establish the validity of the SLE-key® rule-out test and analyse its utility in distinguishing systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) from other autoimmune rheumatic connective tissue diseases. Methods  We used data from the Lupus Extended Autoimmune Phenotype (LEAP) study, which included a representative cross-sectional sample of patients with a variety of rheumatic connective tissue diseases, including SLE, mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD), inflammatory myositis, systemic sclerosis, primary Sjögren’s syndrome and undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD). The modified 1997 ACR criteria were used to classify patients with SLE. Banked serum samples were sent to Immune-Array’s CLIA- certified laboratory Veracis (Richmond, VA) for testing. Patients were assigned test scores between 0 and 1 where a score of 0 was considered a negative rule-out test (i.e. SLE cannot be excluded) whilst a score of 1 was assigned for a positive rule-out test (i.e. SLE excluded). Performance measures were used to assess the test’s validity and measures of association determined using linear regression and Spearman’s correlation. Results  Our study included a total of 155 patients of whom 66 had SLE. The mean age in the SLE group was 44.2 years (SD 13.04). 146 patients (94.1%) were female. 84 (54.2%) patients from the entire cohort had ACR SLE scores of ≤ 3 whilst 71 (45.8%) had ACR SLE scores ≥ 4. The mean ACR SLE total score for the SLE patients was 4.85 (SD 1.67), ranging from 2 to 8, with mean disease duration of 12.9 years. The Sensitivity of the SLE-Key® Rule-Out test in diagnosing SLE from other connective tissue diseases was 54.5%, specificity was 44.9%, PPV 42.4% and NPV 57.1 %. 45% of the SLE patients had a positive rule-out test. SLE could not be ruled out in 73% of the MCTD patients whilst 51% of the UCTD patients had a positive Rule-Out test and >85% of the inflammatory myositis patients had a negative rule-out test. ROC analysis generated an AUC of 0.525 illustrating weak class separation capacity. Linear regression established a negative correlation between the SLE-key Rule-Out score and ACR SLE total scores. Spearman’s correlation was run to determine the relationship between ACR SLE total scores and SLE-key rule-out score and showed very weak negative correlation (rs = -0.0815, n = 155, p = 0.313). Conclusion  Our findings demonstrate that when applied in clinical practice in a rheumatology CTD clinic setting, the SLE-key® rule-out test does not accurately distinguish SLE from other CTDs. The development of a robust test that could achieve this would be pivotal. It is however important to highlight that the test was designed to distinguish healthy subjects from SLE patients and not for the purpose of differentiating SLE from other connective tissue diseases. Disclosure  S. Achieng: None. J.A. Reynolds: None. I.N. Bruce: Other; I.N.B is a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Senior Investigator and is funded by the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre. M. Bukhari: None.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000348942199015
Author(s):  
Kevin Calamari ◽  
Stephen Politano ◽  
Laura Matrka

Objectives: Expiratory disproportion index (EDI) is the ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) divided by peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) multiplied by 100. Prominent EDI (>50) values can differentiate subglottic stenosis (SGS) from paradoxical vocal fold movement disorder (PVFMD), but this has not been verified when considering body habitus. We hypothesize that the predictive value of elevated EDI in differentiating SGS from PVFMD will be lower in obese patients than non-obese patients. Methods: Patients ≥ 18 years old with recorded PFT values, BMI, and airway imaging were reviewed retrospectively from 01/2011 to 10/2018. EDI was recorded for 4 cohorts: non-obese/SGS, non-obese/ PVFMD, obese/SGS, and obese/ PVFMD, to determine the mean EDI and the sensitivity/specificity of an elevated EDI. Results: Mean EDI values were 69.32 and 48.38 in the non-obese SGS and PVFMD groups, respectively ( P < .01). They were 58.89 and 47.67 in the obese SGS and PVFMD groups, respectively ( P < .05). At a threshold of >50, EDI had a sensitivity of 90.0% and specificity of 51.6% in differentiating between SGS and PVFMD cases in non-obese patients and 51.6% and 63.6% in obese patients. Conclusion: Prior literature has established that EDI can distinguish SGS from PVFMD in the general population. Our results show that the mean EDI values were significantly different in both cohorts, but an elevated EDI was not as sensitive at identifying SGS cases in obese patients. This suggests that the EDI should be used with caution in obese patients and should not be relied upon to rule out SGS. Level of Evidence: 3.


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