Citation

Verster JC, Kruisselbrink LD, Slot KA, Anogeianaki A, Adams S, Alford C, Arnoldy L, Ayre E, Balikji S, Benson S, Bruce G, Devenney LE, Frone MR, Gunn C, Heffernan T, Hensel KO, Hogewoning A, Johnson SJ, van Lawick van Pabst AE, van de Loo AJAE, Mackus M, Merlo A, Murphy RJL, Owen L, Palmer EOC, van Rossum CJI, Scholey A, Terpstra C, Vatsalya V, Vermeulen SA, van Wijk M, Stock AK. J. Clin. Med. 2020; 9(1): e179.

Affiliation

Cognitive Neurophysiology Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine of the TU Dresden, University of Dresden, D-01307 Dresden, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/jcm9010179

PMID

31936502

Abstract

The 2010 Alcohol Hangover Research Group consensus paper defined a cutoff blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.11% as a toxicological threshold indicating that sufficient alcohol had been consumed to develop a hangover. The cutoff was based on previous research and applied mostly in studies comprising student samples. Previously, we showed that sensitivity to hangovers depends on (estimated) BAC during acute intoxication, with a greater percentage of drinkers reporting hangovers at higher BAC levels. However, a substantial number of participants also reported hangovers at comparatively lower BAC levels. This calls the suitability of the 0.11% threshold into question. Recent research has shown that subjective intoxication, i.e., the level of severity of reported drunkenness, and not BAC, is the most important determinant of hangover severity. Non-student samples often have a much lower alcohol intake compared to student samples, and overall BACs often remain below 0.11%. Despite these lower BACs, many non-student participants report having a hangover, especially when their subjective intoxication levels are high. This may be the case when alcohol consumption on the drinking occasion that results in a hangover significantly exceeds their "normal" drinking level, irrespective of whether they meet the 0.11% threshold in any of these conditions. Whereas consumers may have relative tolerance to the adverse effects at their "regular" drinking level, considerably higher alcohol intake-irrespective of the absolute amount-may consequentially result in a next-day hangover. Taken together, these findings suggest that the 0.11% threshold value as a criterion for having a hangover should be abandoned.

Language: en

Keywords

alcohol; blood alcohol concentration; hangover; sensitivity; subjective intoxication