Response to Dr Holmes and Dr Angus

I thank Dr Holmes and Dr Angus for their interest in my work. Nevertheless, I have to disagree with their approach to data analysis. 1. The crucial test for the total alcohol consumption model is whether stern policies (especially higher price and more restricted availability of alcoholic beverages) can reduce alcohol-related harm or not. My indicator of harm was disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost due to alcohol use. It is the most comprehensive measure of ill-health. The important question in my study (Poikolainen, 2015) is, whether stern alcohol policy can decrease DALYs lost due to alcohol use or not. Hence, the reader should focus on the strong lack of association shown by the regression coefficient ( P = 0.8) and partial correlation ( P = −0.01) between the alcohol policy index and DALYs, rather than on the non-significant partial correlation between consumption and DALYs ( r = 0.21). …