Association Between Alcohol Consumption and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality in Patients With Hypertension: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies

Objective: To conduct a meta-analysis summarizing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality (ACM) in relation to alcohol consumption in patients with hypertension, focusing on clarifying dose-response associations. Patients and Methods: PubMed and EMBASE were searched for eligible prospective cohort studies from December 3, 1949, through January 18, 2014. The semi-parameter method and dose-response analysis were used. Results: Nine studies (11 cohorts) were included in the meta-analysis. Compared with the lowest alcohol level (abstainers/occasional drinkers), the pooled relative risk (RR) was 0.72 (95% CI, 0.68-0.77) for the third highest category (median, 10 g/d), 0.81 (95% CI, 0.71-0.93) for the second highest category (median, 20 g/d), and 0.60 (95% CI, 0.54-0.67) for the highest category (median, 30 g/d). A J-shaped relationship between alcohol use and ACM was observed, and the nadir (RR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.76-0.88) was found to be at a dose of 8 to 10 g of alcohol consumption per day. Conclusion: Findings of this meta-analysis suggest that low-to-moderate alcohol consumption was inversely significantly associated with the risk of CVD and ACM in patients with hypertension.