B-PO05-165 ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND RISK OF BRADYARRHYTHMIAS: DATA FROM THE UK BIOBANK

Abstract

There is a paucity of evidence for the role of alcohol consumption on the risk of bradyarrhythmias. Using prospective cohort data from the UK Biobank, we characterised associations of total and beverage-specific alcohol consumption with incident bradyarrhythmias. Self-reported alcohol consumption from a baseline questionnaire was calculated as standard drinks (8g alcohol) per week. Past and never drinkers and those with a history of bradyarrhythmias were excluded. Bradyarrhythmias were defined as a pacemaker insertion or abnormalities in rate/rhythm resulting in a pathologically slow ventricular response. Incident events were assessed through hospitalisation and death records. Consumption was modelled as restricted cubic splines in multivariate Cox regression models and corrected for regression dilution bias. The cohort consisted of 385,670 participants with 4,246 incident bradyarrhythmias over a median (IQR) follow-up duration of 8.0 (7.3-8.6) years. Participants consuming greater amounts of alcohol were younger, more likely male, of white ethnicity, and largely more comorbid. Associations of total and beverage-specific alcohol consumption and bradyarrhythmia risk are shown in the Figure. Disaggregation demonstrated similar associations for alcohol consumption with different bradyarrhythmia outcomes. Amongst current drinkers, alcohol consumption appears to have a protective association with bradyarrhythmia risk. Red and white wine intake was associated with lower risk compared to beer, cider and spirits. Further investigation is required into the biologic mechanisms behind these findings.