The effectiveness of an intervention to reduce alcohol-related violence in premises licensed for the sale and on-site consumption of alcohol: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background and aims: Premises licensed for the sale and consumption of alcohol can contribute to levels of assault-related injury through poor operational practices that, if addressed, could reduce violence. We tested the real-world effectiveness of an intervention designed to change premises operation, whether any intervention effect changed over time, and the effect of intervention dose.

Design: A parallel randomized controlled trial with the unit of allocation and outcomes measured at the level of individual premises.

Setting: All premises (public houses, nightclubs or hotels with a public bar) in Wales, UK.

Participants: A randomly selected subsample (n = 600) of eligible premises (that had one or more violent incidents recorded in police-recorded crime data; n = 837) were randomized into control and intervention groups.

Intervention and comparator: Intervention premises were audited by Environmental Health Practitioners who identified risks for violence and provided feedback by varying dose (informal, through written advice, follow-up visits) on how risks could be addressed. Control premises received usual practice.

Measurements: Police data were used to derive a binary variable describing whether, on each day premises were open, one or more violent incidents were evident over a 455-day period following randomization.

Findings: Due to premises being unavailable at the time of intervention delivery 208 received the intervention and 245 were subject to usual practice in an intention-to-treat analysis. The intervention was associated with an increase in police recorded violence compared to normal practice (hazard ratio = 1.34, 95% confidence interval = 1.20-1.51). Exploratory analyses suggested that reduced violence was associated with greater intervention dose (follow-up visits).

Conclusion: An Environmental Health Practitioner-led intervention in premises licensed for the sale and on-site consumption of alcohol resulted in an increase in police recorded violence.

Keywords: Alcohol; Environmental Health; intervention; licensed premises; randomized controlled trial; violence.