Citation

Valencia-Martín JL, Galan I, Guallar-Castillón P, Rodriguez-Artalejo F. Prev. Med. 2013; 57(5): 703-707.

Affiliation

Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid/IdiPAZ, Madrid, Spain; CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain; Department of Preventive Medicine, Móstoles University Hospital, Móstoles, Spain. Electronic address: jose.valencia@uam.es.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ypmed.2013.09.007

PMID

24051265

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between alcohol drinking patterns and health-related quality of life (HRQL).

METHODS: Population-based cross-sectional study conducted in 2008-2010 among 12,715 adult individuals in Spain. HRQL was assessed with the SF-12 questionnaire and alcohol intake with a diet history. The threshold between average moderate drinking and average heavy drinking was ≥40g/day of alcohol in men and ≥24g/day in women. Binge drinking was defined as the intake of ≥80g in men and ≥60g in women at any drinking session during the preceding 30days. Analyses were performed with linear regression and adjusted for the main confounders.

RESULTS: Compared to non-drinkers, all types of average drinkers reported better scores on the SF-12 physical component: β=1.42 (95% confidence interval 1.03 to 1.81) in moderate drinkers and β=1.86 (1.07 to 2.64) in heavy drinkers. In contrast, average alcohol consumption was not associated with the mental component of the SF-12. The number of binge drinking episodes and most types of beverage preference showed no association with physical or mental HRQL.

CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol drinkers, including those with heavy drinking, reported better physical HRQL than non-drinkers.

Language: en