Search resultsAlcohol consumption and mortality: A dose-response analysis in terms of time
Title
Alcohol consumption and mortality: A dose-response analysis in terms of time
Publication type
Journal Article
Year of Publication
2014
Authors
Journal
Annals of Epidemiology
Volume
24
Issue
4
Pagination
291 - 296
Date published
2014
ISBN
10472797 (ISSN)
Keywords
Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, alcohol, alcohol consumption, Alcohol Drinking, article, body mass, cohort analysis, Cohort Studies, Confidence Intervals, correlational study, dose response, Dose-response, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, drinking behavior, education, Female, follow up, gender, human, Humans, Laplace, major clinical study, male, Middle Aged, mortality, nonlinear system, Percentile, physical activity, population research, priority journal, questionnaire, Questionnaires, smoking, survival, Survival Analysis, survival time, Sweden, Time Factors
Abstract
Purpose: Low-to-moderate alcohol consumption is associated with decreased mortality. However, many aspects of this association are still debated. Our aim was to complement available information by conducting a dose-response analysis of the association between alcohol consumption and survival time. Methods: In a Swedish population-based cohort of 67,706 middle-aged and elderly men and women, frequency and amount of drinking were assessed through a self-administrated questionnaire. During 15years of follow-up, 13,323 participants died. Differences in survival (10th percentile differences, PDs) according to levels of alcohol consumption were estimated using Laplace regression. Results: We found evidence of nonlinearity between alcohol consumption and survival. Among women, we observed a rapid increase in survival up to 6g/d of alcohol consumption (0.5 drinks/d) where survival was 17months longer (PD=17months, 95% confidence interval, 10 to 24). After this peak, higher alcohol consumption was progressively associated with shorter survival. Among men, survival improved up to 15g/d (1.5 drinks/d) where we observed a PD of 15months (95% confidence interval, 8 to 22). Conclusions: Low alcohol consumption was associated with improved survival up to 1.5years for women with an average consumption of 0.5 drinks per day and to 1.3years for men with an average consumption of 1.5 drinks per day.