BeBOD estimates of population exposure to alcohol and tobacco use, 2013-2021

Belgian National Burden of Disease Study

Estimates of the population exposure to alcohol and tobacco use

Population exposure

The attribution of disease burden to risk factors requires estimates of the level of exposure in the population.

Alcohol use

The prevalence of current drinkers, former drinkers, and lifetime abstainers is derived from the Belgian Health Interview Survey. Mean alcohol consumption in grams per day is sourced from the Global Health Observatory, with the BHIS distribution applied to these estimates. Bayesian regression models are used to smooth, interpolate, and extrapolate the observed estimates.

Tobacco use

The prevalence of never, former, and current smokers, the daily number of cigarettes smoked by smokers, time since quitting for former smokers, and pack years for smokers are all derived from the Belgian Health Interview Survey. Bayesian regression models are used to smooth, interpolate, and extrapolate the observed estimates.

More information

For additional background on BeBOD, please visit https://www.sciensano.be/en/projects/belgian-national-burden-disease-study.

Explore the estimates via https://burden.sciensano.be/shiny/risk.