Estimated economic costs of alcohol abuse, 1985 and 1990

[cost4.htm, dated 6/99]


Type of Cost	1985[1]	1990[2]
Type of Cost	Amount in Millions	Amount in Millions	Percent Distribution
Total	$70,338	$98,623	100

Core Costs	58,181	80,763	81.9

Direct Costs	6,810	10,512	10.7

Specialty organizations	2,281	3,469	3.5
Short-stay hospitals	3,017	4,589	4.7
Office-based physicians	141	240	0.2
Other professional services	173	329	0.3
Nursing homes	703	1,095	1.1
Support Costs	495	790	0.8

Indirect Costs	51,371	70,251	71.2

Morbidity	27,388	36,627	37.1
Noninstitutionalized population	27,208	36,404	36.9
Institutionalized population	180	223	0.2

Mortality[3]	23,983	33,624	34.1

Other Related Costs	10,546	15,771	16

Direct Costs	7,380	10,436	10.6

Crime	4,251	5,807	5.9
Motor vehicle crashes	2,584	3,876	3.9
Fire destruction	457	633	0.6
Social welfare administration	88	120	0.1

Indirect Costs	3,166	5,335	5.4

Victims of crime	465	576	0.6
Incarceration	2,701	4,759	4.8

Special Diseases
Fetal alcohol syndrome	1,611	2,089	2.1

Source: Rice, D.P. The economic costs of alcohol abuse and dependence 1990. ALCOHOL HEALTH & RESEARCH WORLD, 17(1), 10-11, 1993.

[1] Rice, D.P.; Kelman, S.; Miller, L.S.; Dunmeyer, S. THE ECONOMIC COSTS OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE AND MENTAL ILLNESS, 1985. Report for ADAMHA prepared by the Institute for Health and Aging, University of California, San Francisco, 1990. DHHS Pub. No.90-1694.

[2] 1990 costs are based on socioeconomic indexes applied to 1985 estimates.

[3] Discounted at 6 percent.