Patterns of alcohol consumption in middle-aged men from France and Northern Ireland. The PRIME study

Objective: To assess the patterns of alcohol consumption in France and Nort hern Ireland. Design: Four cross-sectional studies. Setting: Sample of 50-59 y old men living in France and Northern Ireland, c onsuming at least one unit of alcoholic beverage per week. Subjects: 5363 subjects from France and 1367 from Northern Ireland. Interventions: None. Results: Consumption of wine was higher in Prance whereas consumption of be er and spirits was higher in Northern Ireland. Alcohol drinking was rather homogeneous throughout the week in France, whereas Fridays and Saturdays ac counted for 60% of total alcohol consumption in Northern Ireland. In both c ountries, current smokers had a higher consumption of all types of alcoholi c beverages than non-smokers. Similarly, obese and hypertensive subjects ha d a higher total alcohol consumption than non-obese or normotensive subject s, but the type of alcoholic beverages differed between countries. In North ern Ireland, subjects which reported some physical activity consumed signif icantly less alcoholic beverages than sedentary subjects, whereas no differ ences were found in France. Conversely. subjects with dyslipidemia consumed more alcoholic beverages than normolipidemic subjects in France, whereas n o differences were found in Northern Ireland. In France, total alcohol, win e and beer consumption was negatively related to socioeconomic status and e ducational level. In Northern Ireland, total alcohol, beer and spirits cons umption was negatively related whereas wine consumption was positively rela ted to socioeconomic status and educational level. Conclusions: Alcohol drinking patterns differ between France and Northern I reland, and also according to cardiovascular risk factors, socioeconomic an d educational levels. Sponsorship: Merck, Sharp & Dohme-Chibret (France), the NICHSA and the Depa rtment of Health and Social Service (Northern Ireland).