In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released an online version of the Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI) application to allow state public health agencies and other users to assess deaths and years of potential life lost (YPLL) attributable to excessive drinking. By using ARDI, CDC estimated approximately 75,000 deaths and 2.3 million YPLL were due to excessive drinking in the United States in 2001 (5). However, since that time, no comprehensive analysis has been conducted of US deaths and YPLL from excessive alcohol consumption. Furthermore, the ARDI application does not provide rates for death and YPLL from excessive drinking. The assessment of these rates is important because the total number of alcohol-attributable deaths (AAD) and YPLL are known to vary substantially across states (6), as does the prevalence and intensity of binge drinking (3). Finally, the contribution of excessive drinking to deaths among working-age adults (20–64 y) and those younger than 21 years is not well understood, even though excessive drinking is known to be a major cause of premature mortality, resulting in an average of 30 years of life lost per AAD (5).
