Search resultsThe effect of smoking and sex on the association between long-term alcohol consumption and metabolic syndrome in middle-aged and older population.
BACKGROUND: The effect of smoking and sex on the relationship between alcohol consumption and risk of developing metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components has not been investigated.
METHODS: A total of 5,629 Korean adults aged 40-69 years without MetS were recruited at baseline. Alcohol consumption was assessed biennially and classified as light, moderate or heavy drinker. Smoking status was examined at baseline and categorized into non-smokers and current smokers. Risk of incident MetS and its components according to alcohol consumption was examined by smoking status and sex using a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model.
RESULTS: During a follow-up of 12 years, 2,336 participants (41.5%) developed MetS. In non-smokers, light or moderate alcohol drinkers had a lower risk of developing MetS, abdominal obesity, hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and low HDL-C compared with never drinkers. Heavy alcohol consumption was associated with a higher risk of incident elevated blood pressure (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.48; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07-2.06; P = 0.020) in men and abdominal obesity (HR = 1.86; 95% CI, 1.06-3.27; P = 0.030) in women. However, in smokers, the inverse association of light or moderate alcohol consumption with hypertriglyceridemia and abdominal obesity was not present, whereas a positive association between heavy alcohol consumption and hyperglycemia (HR = 1.39; 95% CI, 1.07-1.80; P = 0.014) was observed.
CONCLUSIONS: Smoking status and sex strongly affects the association between long-term alcohol consumption and MetS and its components by the amount of alcohol consumed.