Objective  To quantitatively evaluate the relationship between alcohol use and itsattributable deaths in residents in Shandong province in 2018 and provide data for the development of the strategies to control harmful drinking.

  Methods  We collected the death data from the cause of death registration system in Shandong in 2018 and obtained alcohol consumption data in Shandong from Chinese Chronic Disease and Risk Factors Surveillance in 2018. Based on these data, we estimated the population attributable fraction (PAF) and the number of deaths due to alcohol consumption in 2018 by comparative risk assessment theory using relative risks (RRs) from 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD2019).

  Results  In 2018, the percentage of deaths attributed to alcohol use was 2.80%. In men the PAF was 4.93% and in women the PAF was 0.02%. The number of deaths caused by alcohol use was 19 399, including 19 349 deaths in men and 50 deaths in women. The leading causes of alcohol-related deaths were hemorrhagic stroke, hypertensive heart disease, and ischemic stroke, causing 7 073, 3 114 and 2 983 deaths respectively. The PAFs were 6.73%, 6.98% and 2.41% respectively. Other pharyngeal cancers (34.41%) had the highest score of death attributed to alcohol use, followed by nasopharynx cancer (26.40%) and oral cavity cancer (25.67%). Alcohol use caused 2 180 injury deaths, including 1 109 traffic accident deaths, 521 suicide deaths, and 535 unintentional injury deaths.

  Conclusion  Alcohol use has a significant impact on the mortality of residents in Shandong. It is suggested to take effective measures to control alcohol use in order to reduce the mortality caused by alcohol use.