MOD-ALC study: evaluation of alcohol consumption and mortality related to alcohol-related liver disease in the french West Indies (Guadeloupe and Martinique) ; Étude MOD-ALC : évaluation de la consommation d’alcool et mortalité en rapport avec la maladie du foie liée a l’alcool aux Antilles françaises (Guadeloupe et Martinique)

Context and objective: In mainland France, alcohol is the second leading cause of avoidable mortality in the general population (41,000 deaths in 2015), and the first among those aged 15-49. The amount of alcohol consumed per capita per year (called per capita consumption) has been decreasing since 1960, dropping from 26.0 to 10.5 liters of pure alcohol (LAP) in 2022. In 2021, 8% of the French population would still consume alcohol daily, the primary risk factor for chronic liver disease. On the other hand, data on consumption habits in overseas territories are scarce, and there is no published data on alcohol-related cirrhosis mortality in the overseas departments and regions (DROM). Methods: A first descriptive retrospective study based on literature data allowed for the quantification of global and per capita alcohol consumption by type of alcohol in Guadeloupe and Martinique. A second retrospective, analytical, descriptive study based on hospital data allowed for the estimation of overall hepatic mortality in patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis, between January 2011 and December 2023. Due to a small sample size, the data from Guadeloupe and Martinique were combined. Results: Per capita in Guadeloupe and Martinique has tended to decrease over the past 20 years. Estimated at 8.4 and 8.5 LAP in 2004, it has decreased to 6.0 and 6.4 LAP in 2023. Rum is the most consumed alcohol in these two departments. Between 2011 and 2023, 1363 deaths of patients with chronic liver disease, including 878 related to alcohol (64.4%), were recorded, corresponding to a mortality rate of 13.6 per 100,000 inhabitants. 65.4% of these deaths have a hepatic cause, mainly related to decompensation (9 hepatic deaths out of 10). The age at death of a person with alcohol-related liver disease is particularly young (64.9 years), compared to the general population (76 and 77.1 years for a man respectively in Guadeloupe and Martinique). Premature mortality is therefore significant, with an average of 14.2 years of life lost per ...