Search for Evidence
The following databases were searched from inception up
to November 2006 to identify studies assessing the impact
of changes in alcohol outlet density and other review
topics: EconLit, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, MEDLINE,
EMBASE, and EtOH (no longer available after 2003). The
search yielded 6442 articles, books, and conference abstracts,
of which 5645 were unique. After screening titles and abstracts,
251 papers and articles and 17 books were retrieved
specifically related to outlet density; five articles could not be
retrieved. After assessing quality of execution and design
suitability (see below), 88 articles or books were included in
the review. The actual number of studies that qualified for the