The effects of these problems for the final estimates of alcohol-attributable burden are not clear. Analyses for some European countries have shown that the volume indicator had about twice as much variance explained as the patterns indicator, independent of each other [236]. This is likely an underestimate, but we will only know the real numbers when there are studies combining better exposure measures of alcohol epidemiology with state-of-the-art outcome measures. Determining the relative importance of volume and patterns of drinking is not only crucial for understanding the aetiology of disease and injury, but also for tailoring prevention measures [237].
