Abstract

Norwegian health survey data (1987–2003) were analyzed to determine if binge drinking increases the risk of incident major events from ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke. Among current drinkers reporting average alcohol intakes of 2.00–59.99 g/day (n = 44,476), frequent binge drinking (≥5 units at least once per month) was not associated with a greater risk of IHD (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 0.91, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.76, 1.09) or stroke (adjusted HR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.81, 1.19), in comparison with participants who reported that they never or only infrequently (less than once per month) had episodes of binge drinking. Participants with an average alcohol intake of 2.00–59.99 g/day had a lower risk of IHD in comparison with participants with very low intakes (<2.00 g/day), both among frequent binge drinkers (adjusted HR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.56, 0.80) and among never/infrequent binge drinkers (adjusted HR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.67, 0.84). The findings suggest that frequent binge drinking, independent of average alcohol intake, does not increase the risk of incident IHD or stroke events. However, the findings should be interpreted in light of the limitations of the study design.

Highlights

  • Norwegian health survey data (1987–2003) were analyzed to determine if binge drinking increases the risk of incident major events from ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke

  • Among current drinkers reporting average alcohol intakes of 2.00–59.99 g/day (n = 44,476), frequent binge drinking (≥5 units at least once per month) was not associated with a greater risk of IHD (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 0.91, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.76, 1.09) or stroke, in comparison with participants who reported that they never or only infrequently had episodes of binge drinking

  • Participants with an average alcohol intake of 2.00–59.99 g/day had a lower risk of IHD in comparison with participants with very low intakes (

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Summary

Introduction

Norwegian health survey data (1987–2003) were analyzed to determine if binge drinking increases the risk of incident major events from ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke. Among current drinkers reporting average alcohol intakes of 2.00–59.99 g/day (n = 44,476), frequent binge drinking (≥5 units at least once per month) was not associated with a greater risk of IHD (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 0.91, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.76, 1.09) or stroke (adjusted HR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.81, 1.19), in comparison with participants who reported that they never or only infrequently (less than once per month) had episodes of binge drinking. The findings suggest that frequent binge drinking, independent of average alcohol intake, does not increase the risk of incident IHD or stroke events. The risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD) has been consistently lower among drinkers in comparison with nondrinkers [3, 8, 9], with the exception of chronic heavy drinkers. Frequent binge drinking (≥5 units at least once per month), called heavy episodic drinking, is

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