Alcohol intake and risk of rosacea in US women

Background: The epidemiologic association between alcohol and rosacea is unclear and inconsistent based on the previous cross-sectional or case-control studies. Objective: We conducted a cohort study to determine the association between alcohol intake and the risk of rosacea in women. Methods: A total of 82,737 women were included from the Nurses' Health Study II (1991-2005). Information on alcohol intake was collected every 4 years during follow-up. Information on history of clinician-diagnosed rosacea and year of diagnosis was collected in 2005. Results: Over 14 years of follow-up, we identified 4945 cases of rosacea. Compared with never drinkers, increased alcohol intake was associated with a significantly increased risk of rosacea (P trend <.0001). The multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and confidence intervals (CIs) were 1.12 (95% CI 1.05-1.20) for alcohol intake of 1-4 g/day and 1.53 (1.26-1.84) for ≥30 g/day. The associations remained consistent across categories of smoking status. Further examination of types of alcoholic beverage consumed revealed that white wine (P trend <.0001) and liquor intake (P trend = .0006) were significantly associated with a higher risk of rosacea. Limitations: This was an epidemiologic study without examination into etiologic mechanisms. Conclusions: Alcohol intake was significantly associated with an increased risk of rosacea in women.