Abstract 108: Alcohol-related Diagnoses are Associated with High Mortality in Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease

Abstract

Background: Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with lower risk of peripheral vascular disease (PVD). However, in heavy drinkers the evidence is limited, and there is little data on the effects of heavy drinking in patients admitted with PVD. We sought to investigate the prevalence and association of alcohol-related diagnoses with in-hospital mortality in patients presenting with PVD. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the 2011 Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS). Using logistic regression methods appropriate for the NIS sample design, we estimated mortality associated with alcohol-related diagnoses in PVD patients and evaluated factors that might modify the association between alcohol and death. Results: PVD accounted for 158,683 (0.5%) of adult in-patient admissions with an in-hospital mortality rate of 4.6%. Of PVD admissions, a total of 4089 (2.6%) had concomitant alcohol-related diagnosis. Alcohol-related diagnoses were associated with increased mortality in PAD patients after controlling for factors associated with alcoholism, including age, sex, liver disease, hypertension, diabetes, renal failure, arrhythmias, drug abuse, gastro-intestinal bleed, and smoking [adjusted-odds ratio 1.7; 95% CI (1.3 - 2.4); P-value lt 0.001]. None of the factors included in the regression analyses interacted with alcohol abuse in predicting mortality, possibly due to lack of power. Conclusion: Alcohol-related diagnoses were associated with a modest increase in the risk for death in individuals presenting with PAD. This risk was not accounted for by common alcohol-related comorbidities. As a component of global efforts to limit hospital deaths from PAD, future research should identify the factors underlying this association.