AVERAGE DAILY ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION DURING ADULT LIFE AMONG DECEDENTS WITH AND WITHOUT CIRRHOSIS - THE 1986 NATIONAL MORTALITY FOLLOWBACK SURVEY

The relationship of alcohol consumption and cirrhosis mortality was ex amined by sampling 1% of deaths in the U.S. using the 1986 National Mo rtality Followback Survey. Quantity and frequency of decedent's alcoho l consumption was obtained from next of kin through mailed questionnai re. The percentage of decedents with cirrhosis increased sharply with the increasing number of drinks per day. Three drinks per day was asso ciated with a significantly higher percentage of cirrhosis deaths comp ared with lifetime abstainers for both whites and blacks. Although bla cks had a significantly higher percentage of abstainers than whites, o f those persons who were reported to drink every day, blacks were more likely to be heavier drinkers (5 or more drinks per day). Blacks did not have a higher risk of cirrhosis mortality than whites for each dri nking category. Although Native Americans were oversampled, the number of deaths was too small for statistical comparisons.