Health-Associated Changes in Drinking: A Period Prevalence Study of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Cohort (1987–1995)

Background. Several investigators have suggested that drinking cessation occurs because of poor health which may bias studies on the benefit or risk of alcohol consumption. Methods. Drinking status, level of alcohol consumption, and two measures of health (perceived health and physician diagnosed ch...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Preventive medicine 2000-07, Vol.31 (1), p.81-89
Main Authors: Eigenbrodt, Marsha L., Fuchs, Flavio D., Hutchinson, Richard G., Paton, Catherine C., Goff, David C., Couper, David J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age Distribution
Aged
alcohol drinking
Alcoholism - epidemiology
Arteriosclerosis - diagnosis
Arteriosclerosis - epidemiology
Cohort Studies
Comorbidity
Confidence Intervals
Drinking Behavior
Female
health
Health Status
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Odds Ratio
Population Surveillance
Prevalence
Prospective Studies
Risk Factors
Sex Distribution
United States - epidemiology
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Summary:Background. Several investigators have suggested that drinking cessation occurs because of poor health which may bias studies on the benefit or risk of alcohol consumption. Methods. Drinking status, level of alcohol consumption, and two measures of health (perceived health and physician diagnosed chronic disease status) were determined from exams 1 (1987–1989) and 3 (1993–1995) on 12,562 African– and European–American participants, who were aged 45–64 years at exam 1 in the ARIC Study. For those in good health at exam 1, logistic regression analyses were used to model the association between health decline and drinking change at exam 3. Results. Among the total population, drinking cessation was significantly more common among those who reported poor health at exam 3, and nondrinkers were unlikely to begin drinking regardless of exam 3 health. Using different measures of health status resulted in associations whose strength and significance varied with ethnicity and, in some cases, by gender. Conclusion. While the current data do not prove that the health decline occurred prior to drinking cessation, our findings support the hypothesis that poor health results in drinking changes which could potentially bias studies of alcohol's benefit and risk even when lifetime abstainers are used as the reference group.
ISSN:0091-7435
1096-0260
DOI:10.1006/pmed.2000.0685