Association between alcohol consumption and diabetes preventive practices

Background and Objectives: Little is known about the effect of alcohol consumption on the quality of care among patients with diabetes. We evaluated the association between alcohol consumption and diabetes preventive practices. Methods: We analyzed data from the 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Based on self-reported alcohol consumption in the past 30 days, we categorized participants into the following groups: nondrinkers, moderate drinkers (average drinks/day: ≤ one for women, ≤ two for men), or heavy drinkers (average drinks/day: > one for women, > two for men). We then examined the association between alcohol consumption and participants' reports of diabetes preventive practices. Results: Of 10,980 respondents with a self-reported diagnosis of diabetes, 70% were current nondrinkers, 28% moderate drinkers, and 2% heavy drinkers. Heavy drinkers compared with nondrinkers were more likely to report not performing daily glucose self monitoring and not having had an eye examination in the past year, adjusting for age, gender, race, education, income, marital status, health insurance, diabetes duration, health status, and insulin use. Moderate drinkers were more likely than nondrinkers to report not performing daily glucose self monitoring and not having had a provider visit for diabetes in the past year. Conclusions: Adults with diabetes who report moderate or heavy alcohol consumption may be at risk for adverse diabetes outcomes due to suboptimal preventive practices.