Tobacco- and alcohol-attributable mortality and years of potential life lost in Germany

AIM: To compare the ages of death caused by tobacco smoking and alcohol risk drinking. METHODS: Smoking rates from the largest population survey, alcohol drinking data from the National Health Survey and data from the vital statistics from Germany are used and attributable fractions computed. RESULTS: Alcohol-attributable deaths occurred at the youngest age, followed by tobacco- plus alcohol-attributable cases, whereas death cases attributable to tobacco smoking only occur latest. CONCLUSION: The overlap in the two substance-use behaviours has to be taken into account when considering attributable mortality data.