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Affiliation
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Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 6BT, UK. |
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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: The long-term impact of alcohol intake in midlife on developing depression is not clear. We aimed to investigate drinking pattern during midlife as a risk factor for developing depression during 28 years of follow-up.
METHODS: We used data from a well characterised prospective cohort study (the Whitehall II study) of 7478 men and women (70% male) aged 35 to 55 years, and free from depression in 1985-1988, followed up regularly until 2013. Drinking pattern was defined in terms of usual and maximum amounts consumed within a single drinking session, total weekly volume of alcohol consumed and drinking frequency. Depression was assessed using the General Health Questionnaire Depression Subscale at multiple follow-up occasions (up to eight times in total). Associations between different drinking pattern components during midlife and depression were estimated using flexible parametric survival models.
RESULTS: After adjustment for confounding factors only abstaining from alcohol during midlife was associated with an increased risk of developing depression during long-term observation. However, this association became non-significant after adjusting for baseline self-reported health.
CONCLUSIONS: In this community dwelling population, drinking pattern during midlife was not associated with an increased risk of developing depression.
Language: en |