Abstract
Alcohol hangover is a combination of mental, sympathetic, and physical symptoms experienced the day after a single period of heavy drinking, starting when blood alcohol concentration approaches zero. How individual measures/domains of hangover symptomology might differ with moderate to heavy alcohol consumption and how these symptoms correlate with the drinking markers is unclear. We investigated the amount/patterns of drinking and hangover symptomology by the categories of alcohol drinking. We studied males and females in three groups: 12 heavy drinkers (HD; >15 drinks/week, 34–63 years old (y.o.)); 17 moderate drinkers (MD; 5–14 drinks/week, 21–30 y.o.); and 12 healthy controls (social/light drinkers, SD; <5 drinks/week, 25–54 y.o.). Demographics, drinking measures (Timeline followback past 90 days (TLFB90), Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)), and alcohol hangover scale (AHS) were analyzed. Average drinks/day was 5.1-times greater in HD compared to MD. Average AHS score showed moderate incapacity, and individual measures and domains of the AHS were significantly elevated in HD compared to MD. Symptoms of three domains of the AHS (mental, gastrointestinal, and sympathetic) showed domain-specific significant increase in HD. A domain-specific relation was present between AUDIT and specific measures of AHS scores in HD, specifically with the dependence symptoms. Exacerbation in hangover symptomology could be a marker of more severe alcohol use disorder.
Highlights
Excessive alcohol consumption is a leading cause of preventable mortality in the United States [1]
We found a close association of heavy drinking days past 90 days (HDD90, a component of TLFB90) with of heavy drinking days past 90 days (HDD90, a component of TLFB90) with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score and with its hazardous domain in particular
Alcohol hangover symptoms increase with corresponding increases in the level of alcohol consumption
Summary
Excessive alcohol consumption is a leading cause of preventable mortality in the United States [1]. Alcohol consumption continues to steadily rise in the United States; 2014 year estimates (52.7% of people aged 12 or older drank in the past month of reporting) were higher than the estimates in most years between 2002 and 2008 [2]. Hangover symptoms can be severe enough to impair daily routine, reduce productivity, and cause other associated complications of alcohol consumption [6]. Understanding these symptoms and how they relate to the severity of alcohol abuse is important
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