Britain's 24-hr. drinking shifts ER visits

BIRMINGHAM, England, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- British researchers suggest 24-hour drinking has not reduced the burden of hospital alcohol emergency visits, but shifted the problem later into the night.

The Licensing Act 2003 allowed longer and more flexible opening hours for pubs, clubs and other licensed premises of alcohol in Britain. The researchers investigated the alcohol-related admittances to the emergency department for one week in January 2005 -- before the act was implemented -- and then during the same week in January 2006 -- after the licensing hours were changed.

Andrew Durnford and Tommy Perkins led a team of researchers at the University of Birmingham who found a Birmingham hospital has seen an increase in drink-related attendances between the hours of 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.

"Interestingly, since 24-hour drinking, significantly more alcohol-related attendances were observed in the early hours of the morning and a significantly smaller proportion in the earlier evening. This trend was seen for weekdays and weekends," Durnford said in a statement.

"Our findings suggest that although the act has not affected the number of alcohol-related attendances at the emergency department or the day of presentation; it is associated with a shift in the time of attendances into the early hours of the morning. This may reflect a change in drinking patterns."

The study is published in the open access journal BMC Public Health.