U-shaped relation for alcohol consumption and health in early adulthood and implications for mortality

Abstract

Heavy drinkers and abstainers have higher mortality rates than moderate drinkers. Explanations for the relation include a protective effect of moderate drinking, the presence of people who abstain because of illness, and other unidentified risk factors for mortality in abstainers. Studies of alcohol and mortality typically start in mid-life or later, and, therefore, there is little information about the lifetime characteristics of abstainers, including factors that may influence mortality. We investigated, in a large nationally representative sample of young adults in the UK, the association between alcohol consumption and factors predictive of mortality, specifically, psychological distress, self-rated health and limiting illness. 2,3