Table 1

Summary of research on alcohol-attributable and drug-attributable deaths and fractions

PaperReference yearAlcohol/drug consumption dataAlcohol-attributable deaths (n)/fraction (%)Illegal drug-attributable deaths (n)/fraction (%)
SuicideSuicide
Robson et al 24 1992918
Single et al 25 1992Health Promotion Survey.
Canada’s Alcohol and Other Drugs Survey.		918308
Single et al 26 1995Health Promotion Survey.
Canada’s Alcohol and Other Drugs Survey.		955
27% men, 17% women		329
14% for men, 3% for women
Rehm et al 28 2001Global Alcohol Database.619
18% men, 14% women
Popova et al 27 2002Provincial coroners’ offices.295
5.2% for men, 19.5% for women
Rehm et al 29 2002Canadian Addictions Survey.
Moderate drinking‡.		249 premature deaths*
Patra et al 30 2002Canadian Addictions Survey.
High-volume drinking†.		34790
Taylor et al 31 2005Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use
Monitoring Survey.
Total frequency, binge drinking.		27% (95% CI 13% to 41%)

  • *Deaths before the age of 70 years.

  • †>=40 g alcohol per day for men, ≥20 g of alcohol per day for women.

  • ‡<=39 g of alcohol per day for men, ≤19 g per day for women.