ALCOHOL INTAKE AND SUBSEQUENT MORTALITY - FINDINGS FROM THE NHANES-I FOLLOW-UP-STUDY

Objective: Because past research has focused primarily on populations of middle-aged men, the relationship between alcohol and mortality amo ng women and the elderly has been less well substantiated. Method: We examined the relationship between alcohol intake and mortality using d ata from the NHANES I Epidemiologic Follow-Up Study. Total mortality w as examined for both sexes (N = 4,614 women, 3,573 men), but ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality was examined only for men because the nu mber of deaths was too small in Women. Proportional hazards modeling w as used to adjust for the baseline characteristics of age, race, educa tion, body weight, smoking and physical activity. Results: For men age d 40 to 64, the adjusted relative risks (RR) of death for drinking lev els of .5 drinks/day, .5 to < 2 and greater-than-or-equal-to 2 (compar ed to the nondrinking reference group) were 0.8 (95% Confidence Interv al: 0.6, 1.1), 0.9 (CI:0.6, 1.2) and 1.2 (CI: 0.9, 1.6); RRs of IHD mo rtality were 0.6 (CI: 0.4, 0.9), 0.5 (CI: 0.3, 0.9) and 0.7 (CI: 0.5, 1.2). For women aged 40 to 64, the RRs for death for the same exposure categories were 1.2 (CI: 0.9, 1.6), 0.9 (CI: 0.6, 1.4) and 1.9 (CI: 1 .2, 3.0). Among both sexes 65 years and olds, consumption of < 2 drink s/day was associated with about a 20% decrease in total mortality and IHD mortality (men only). However, this protective effect disappeared after exclusion of those with pre-existing disease. Conclusions: Our f indings support a protective effect of moderate alcohol intake on IHD mortality in middle-aged men. Among both men and women, there was litt le evidence of a protective association between moderate alcohol intak e and total mortality after excluding those with pre-existing disease.