Availability and promotion of alcohol according to the typology of the premises and the socioeconomic conditions of the area

Summary

The objective was to characterize the availability and promotion of alcohol associated with the premises of sale and consumption of alcohol in Madrid, as well as to explore the differences in its distribution depending on the typology of the premises and the socioeconomic characteristics of the area. The OHCITIES instrument was used to characterize premises located in 42 census tracts in Madrid during 2016. The density of premises and the number of premises with extended opening hours (12 or more hours) were recorded. Any type of promotion associated with the premises visible from the outside was registered. The percentages of availability and promotion characteristics associated with alcohol consumption and sale premises were compared using the chi-square test and Fisher's exact test. The density of availability and promotion by census tract was estimated and its distribution was explored according to the socioeconomic characteristics of the area using the Kruskal-Wallis test. There were 324 stores, 241 for consumption and 83 for sale. Most had extensive opening hours (73.77%) and some promotional element (89.51%). Consumer stores had longer opening hours and more promotional elements than sales outlets (p < 0.001). Higher density of premises, breadth of schedules and promotional elements were found in areas of high socioeconomic status (all p < 0.001). Availability and promotion were associated with alcohol sales and consumption in Madrid. Future policies aimed at preventing alcohol consumption should take into account the influence of the types of premises and socio-economic characteristics of the area on the distribution of alcohol availability and promotion.