Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40411920›Full record

ArticleHealth & place2025

Investigating the impacts of alcohol outlet zoning policy on alcohol consumption and access to non-alcoholic services: A spatial agent-based simulation.

Tingting Ji, Ivana Stankov, Niles Sherman Egan, Kristen Hassmiller Lich, Rachel L J Thornton, Qi Wang, Takeru Igusa, Hsi-Hsien Wei, Pamela A Matson

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Health & place, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Tingting JiDepartment of Civil and Systems Engineering, Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Building and Real Estate, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, China. Electronic address: tji8@jhu.edu.
Ivana StankovUniSA Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; Urban Health Collaborative, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA.
Niles Sherman EganDepartment of Sociology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Kristen Hassmiller LichDepartment of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Rachel L J ThorntonDepartment of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Qi WangDepartment of Civil and Systems Engineering, Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Takeru IgusaDepartment of Civil and Systems Engineering, Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Hsi-Hsien WeiDepartment of Building and Real Estate, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, China.
Pamela A MatsonDepartment of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Funding

The Social Context of Adolescent Marijuana Use: A Systems ApproachK01DA035387 · NIDA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI MATSON, PAMELA A · 2014 to 2018
$923k
NIDA NIH HHS K01 DA035387
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Debates continue over the effectiveness of limiting alcohol outlet density in reducing alcohol consumption, and its broader impacts on access to non-alcoholic services in low-income urban communities remain underexplored. This study addresses this gap by investigating the impacts of alcohol outlet zoning policies on alcohol consumption and walkable access to non-alcoholic services in low-income urban communities with different baseline densities of liquor and grocery stores. We developed a spatial agent-based model of Baltimore City neighborhoods, simulating the closure of non-conforming liquor stores following the city's zoning code rewrite. The model was calibrated using national survey data and empirical research on alcohol consumption and walkable access to alcohol, food, lottery, and ATM outlets by subgroups. We observed non-linear relationships and differences by gender and employment status in the effects of liquor store closures on heavy drinking, with policies showing limited effectiveness in neighborhoods with high baseline liquor store density. While the policies had minimal impact on access to food and ATMs due to high prevalence of grocery stores, they reduced access to lottery services. Our modeling approach serves as a valuable decision-making tool for policymakers to explore hypothetical scenarios, identify tipping points of policy impacts, and provide actionable insights into the complex interactions between zoning policies and neighborhood dynamics concerning alcohol consumption and access to essential goods and services.

Indexed as

Alcohol DrinkingAlcoholic BeveragesCommerceAdultBaltimoreFemaleHumansMaleNeighborhood CharacteristicsResidence CharacteristicsUrban PopulationAgent-based modelsGISliquor storesOutlet densityPublic healthZoning policy

Identifiers

PMID40411920
PMCPMC12178808

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.