Social and Epidemiological Research on Alcohol: Research Presented at Meetings of the Kettil Bruun Society between 1983 and 2017

Abstract

Aims: The Kettil Bruun Society (KBS) is a leading international society, known in full as the Kettil Bruun Society for Social and Epidemiological Research on Alcohol. This paper aims to analyse research presented at KBS annual meetings and provide an overview of the developments in the research agenda in the field. In this way we try to gain insight into worldwide developments in the research agenda on social and epidemiological research on alcohol between 1983 and 2017. Methods: For the period 1983–1992, all annual meetings were the object of study. For the period after 1993, three sample periods of the annual meetings were used. The current paper is the fourth overview paper in a series. All papers have been reviewed with regard to their content, the research methods used, the country of origin, and the gender of the presenting authors. Results: The number of papers presented at the annual KBS meetings increased from 35 in 1983 to over 160 in the years after 2009. In the period 1983–2017, the percentage of papers on policy and prevention doubled. Surveys have been the most popular research method in the period reviewed here. Conclusions: The KBS is the international society for this type of research, and developments within the KBS give an indication of the worldwide developments in the research agenda on social and epidemiological research on alcohol between 1983 and 2017.