Alcohol and mortality in Russia: prospective observational study of 151 000 adults

BackgroundRussian adults have extraordinarily high rates of premature death. Retrospective enquiries to the families of about 50 000 deceased Russians had found excess vodka use among those dying from external causes (accident, suicide, violence) and eight particular disease groupings. We now seek prospective evidence of these associations.MethodsIn three Russian cities (Barnaul, Byisk, and Tomsk), we interviewed 200 000 adults during 1999–2008...