Public Health Bulletin on Alcohol in the Hauts-de-France Region. January 2020.

Published on 13 January 2020

Key Points

In 2017 in Hauts-de-France, 11.5% of adults aged 18 to 75 consumed alcohol daily (a prevalence significantly higher than the average for other metropolitan regions) and 15% consumed 6 or more drinks on a single occasion at least once a month (comparable to the average prevalence in metropolitan France). These consumption rates were higher among men than among women.
In the region, 23.2% of adults aged 18 to 30 consumed alcohol weekly (a prevalence significantly lower than the average for other regions of metropolitan France), and 6.7% engaged in heavy episodic drinking (6 or more drinks on a single occasion).
Among 17-year-olds, 83.7% had consumed alcohol at least once in their lifetime (a prevalence significantly lower than the average for metropolitan France), and 14.3% consumed 6 or more drinks on a single occasion at least 3 times a month. These prevalence rates among 17-year-olds in Hauts-de-France were significantly lower than the averages for metropolitan France. Regular alcohol consumption (at least 10 occasions in the past month) among these 17-year-olds stood at 7.8%, which is in line with the average for metropolitan France.
In 2017, 22,363 emergency room visits were directly related to alcohol, averaging 61 visits per day, which represented 1.86% of all emergency room visits in the Hauts-de-France region (vs. 1.38% for France as a whole). The rate of visits was higher among men (2.72%) than among women (0.97%) and was highest among those aged 46–60.
The incidence and mortality rates for alcohol-related cancers (lip, mouth, and pharynx; esophagus; and larynx) were higher among men and exceeded the national average. These rates varied from one department to another within the region.
The cumulative mortality rate associated with the main alcohol-related conditions (cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract, liver cirrhosis, alcohol-induced psychosis, and alcoholism) was 22.5 per 100,000 inhabitants among women and 77.0 among men. These rates were higher than those in other regions.