Search resultsAge, alcohol consumption, and all-cause mortality
Title
Age, alcohol consumption, and all-cause mortality
Publication type
Journal Article
Year of Publication
2004
Authors
Journal
Annals of Epidemiology
Volume
14
Issue
10
Pagination
750 - 753
Date published
2004
ISBN
10472797 (ISSN)
Keywords
Adult, age distribution, Age Factors, alcohol consumption, Alcohol Drinking, article, biological marker, building industry, cohort analysis, comorbidity, correlation analysis, dose response, Dose-Response Relationship, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, employee, Germany, hazard assessment, human, Humans, male, medical examination, Middle Aged, mortality, Occupational Health, priority journal, Regression Analysis, smoking, Survival Analysis, time series analysis, vital statistics
Abstract
Purpose Numerous epidemiological studies on middle aged men suggest that moderate alcohol consumption lowers all-cause mortality. Uncertainty exists whether this finding also applies to younger adults. Methods The authors studied the age specific association between alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality in a cohort of 19,943 male employees in the German construction industry (age range 25-64 years) who underwent an occupational health examination between 1986 and 1992 and were followed with respect to vital status over an average period of 10 years. Information on alcohol consumption at baseline examination relied on self report and strongly correlated with biological markers of alcohol consumption. Covariates considered in the proportional hazard regression analysis included age, nationality, smoking status, and comorbidity. Results Age specific analysis revealed that the J/U-shaped association between alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality is limited to men aged 35 years and above. In contrast, a linear positive dose-response relationship was observed for men aged 25 to 34 years (p-trend=0.02). Conclusions Recommendations regarding alcohol consumption and potential health benefits should not be generalized to all ages.