Association between Nightlife Goers’ Likelihood of an Alcohol Use Disorder and Their Preferred Bar’s Closing Time: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study in Perth, Australia

Introduction and aims: Associations between longer-term alcohol-related conditions and licensed outlet trading hours are not well understood. We investigated the association between nightlife-goers’ likelihood of an alcohol use disorder (AUD) and their preference for bars with special permits to remain open ‘late’ (i.e., spent more time there compared to any other venue) until 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. (Friday: Saturday) or midnight (Sunday) compared to bars with ‘standard’ closing times of midnight (Friday: Saturday) or 10 p.m. (Sunday). Design and methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in four major nightlife areas of Perth, Australia, in 2015–2016. We conducted weekend street intercept surveys outside bars between 8 p.m. and 3 a.m. and screened participants who reported alcohol use prior to the survey and spent more time in a bar than any other venue type (n = 667) regarding their past year drinking pattern using AUDIT-C (n = 459). We used gender-specific logistic regression models to estimate associations between AUDIT-C categories (1–4, low risk: 5–7, hazardous: 8–12, active AUD) and preference for bars with different closing times (late vs. standard). Results: A large proportion of participants were hazardous drinkers or had active AUD (83% males: 65% females), and over half preferred a late to a standard closing bar. We found evidence of a positive association between preference for late closing bars and hazardous drinking females (OR = 3.48: 95% CI 1.47–8.23: p = 0.01), but not for females with active AUD, male hazardous drinkers, nor males with active AUD. Discussion and conclusions: Our study adds new evidence on associations between likelihood of AUD among nightlife-goers and trading hours. With increasing international relaxation of trading hours, evidence that late closing bars may be preferred by hazardous drinking females will be of concern to policymakers wanting to curb alcohol-related harms in the community.