Estudios científicos

Alcohol Consumption Levels as Compared With Drinking Habits in Predicting All-Cause Mortality and Cause-Specific Mortality in Current Drinkers

Abstract:

Objective: To investigate the joint associations of amounts of alcohol consumed and drinking habits with the risks of all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality.

Patients and methods: A total of 316,627 healthy current drinkers, with baseline measurements between March 13, 2006, and October 1, 2010, were included in this study. We newly created a drinking habit score (DHS) according to regular drinking (frequency of alcohol intake ≥3 times/wk) and whether consuming alcohol with meals (yes).

Results: During a median follow-up of 8.9 years, we documented 8652 incident cases of all-cause death, including 1702 cases of cardiovascular disease death, 4960 cases of cancer death, and 1990 cases of other-cause death. After adjustment confounders and amount of alcohol consumed, higher DHS was significantly associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease mortality, cancer mortality, or other-cause mortality (Ptrend<.001, Ptrend=.03, Ptrend<.001, and Ptrend<.001, respectively). We observed that the amount of alcohol consumed have different relationships with the risks of all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality among participants with distinct drinking habits, grouped by DHS. For example, in the joint analyses, a J-shaped association between the amount of alcohol consumed and all-cause mortality was observed in participants with unfavorable DHS (Pquadratictrend=.02) while the association appeared to be U-shaped in participants with favorable DHS (Pquadratictrend=.003), with lower risks in those consuming greater than or equal to 50 g/wk and less than 300 g/wk.

Conclusion: Our results indicate that alcohol consumption levels have different relationships with the risk of mortality among current drinkers, depending on their drinking habits.

Comentarios divulgativos:

Durante los casi 9 años que duró de media este estudio, se observó que quienes bebían vino de forma baja o moderada, pero de forma más regular, al menos 3 veces por semana, y, además, lo acompañaban junto con las comidas, tenían un menor riesgo de morir.

Se trata de un estudio observacional que incluyó a 316.627 bebedores británicos, que investigó si la manera en que se tomaba el alcohol modificaba la relación entre la cantidad consumida y el riesgo de mortalidad.

Los investigadores clasificaron a los participantes según sus hábitos de consumo, un patrón más “favorable” era más regular y se acompañaba con las comidas, los resultados indicaron que este patrón de consumo representaba un menor riesgo de mortalidad en general, y debido a enfermedades cardiovasculares, en particular. Es decir, cuando el consumo era moderado, la relación entre la cantidad consumida y el riesgo de morir dependía, en parte, de si los hábitos eran más o menos “favorables”.