Medium Drinkers Research Articles

Association of self-reported health with alcohol consumption: a study conducted among Chinese and Canadian middle-aged and older adults

There has been lack of studies that examine the relationship between self-rated health (SRH) and alcohol consumption, particularly in middle-aged and older adult populations. This study aims to investigate association of SRH status with alcohol consumption in middle-aged and older adult populations. The study is a cross-sectional study design that was based on the China Health and Retired Longitudinal study (CHARLS) and the Canadian Alcohol and Drug Monitoring Survey (CADUMS) and the Canadian Alcohol, Tobacco and Drug Survey (CTADS). Measure of health is SRH status and self-reported alcohol use. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to model the data and the odds ratio of self-reported excellent, very good, good and fair (versus poor) for current and former drinkers versus nondrinkers and current drinkers versus former drinkers was estimated in models after adjusting for covariates. This study found that in both Chinese and Canadian adult populations, current drinkers reported better health status than former drinkers; lifetime nondrinkers reported better health status than former drinkers. Current drinkers reported better health status than nondrinkers. Canadian moderate drinkers (1.3–44 g per day) tended to report better health compared with occasional drinkers and Chinese heavy drinkers (45 + grams per day) reported better health status compared with occasional drinkers in both populations. This study found current drinkers tended to have better health status than former drinker and lifetime nondrinkers in adult populations. Nondrinkers tended to report better health status than former drinkers. Low and medium drinkers reported better health status.

The theory of collectivity of drinking cultures: how alcohol became everyone's problem.

The theory of collectivity of drinking cultures: how alcohol became everyone's problem.

Fluid intake patterns of adults: results of six Liq.In7 national cross-sectional surveys

AbstractDietary patterns provide valuable information for the development of public health policies. Despite increasing interest in the role of fluids in health and disease there are limited data on drinking patterns in adults. The aim of this analysis was to identify and characterize patterns of fluid intake in adults in cross-sectional surveys in China, Indonesia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay.Data on fluid intake volume and type amongst 8159 adults (46% male) were collected using a validated 7-day fluid specific record (Liq.In7). A cluster analysis (partitioning around k-medoids algorithm) was used to identify relatively distinct clusters of subjects based on eight fluid types (water, milk and its derivatives, hot beverages (HB), sugar sweetened beverages (SSB), 100% fruit juices, artificial/non-nutritive sweetened beverages, alcoholic beverages, other beverages). Subjects were categorized according to total daily fluid intake as low (< 1500 mL/d), medium (> 1500- < 3000mL/d), high (> 3000mL- < 4000mL/d) or very high (> 4000mL/d). The clusters were characterized according to country of residence, socio-demographics and lifestyle factors.The eight interpretable clusters identified were: (1) low drinkers – SSB (n = 2450), (2) low drinkers – HB (n = 1589), (3) medium drinkers - water (n = 1306), (4) medium drinkers – HB and SSB (n = 892), (5) medium drinkers - SSB (n = 262), (6) high drinkers – water (n = 817), (7) high drinkers – water & SSB (n = 313) and (8) very high drinkers – water (n = 530). Country of residence was the dominant characteristic in all clusters. In cluster #1 34% of subjects were resident in Mexico (v test 21), 43% of cluster #2 lived in China (v test 21.4). 47% of cluster #4 lived in Argentina (v test 24.2) with 30% living in Uruguay (v test 19.7), (v test 8). Cluster #3 was characterized by residence in Indonesia (v test 23.6) as were clusters #6 (v test 28.5), cluster #7 (v test 8.2) and cluster #8 (v test 24.5). To a lesser extent cluster #7 (high drinkers – water & SSB) was characterised by residence in Mexico (v test 3.6). In cluster #5, 51% and 30% lived in Mexico and Argentina, respectively; with 60% of this cluster being male.Fluid intake patterns (clusters) varied according to the different countries. This information highlights the need to tailor interventions aimed at improving fluid intake behaviour and health to the specific adult populations.

A Latent Profile Analysis of Young Adult Lifestyle Behaviors.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify lifestyle profiles of young adult males and females based on their alcohol, diet, and exercise behaviors and then link these profiles with health. Method: We used the nationally representative 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS; N = 17,286; 47% female; Mage = 23.22; SD = 3.16; 65% white) to examine profiles of alcohol use, daily fruit and vegetable intake, fried potato intake, and exercise per week using latent profile analysis. Participants also reported the days their general, physical, and mental health were poor and BMI. Results: Five distinct profiles for both males and females were identified: Healthy Eaters/Exercisers, Moderates, Unhealthy Eaters, Medium Drinkers, and Heavy Drinkers. Heavy Drinkers and Unhealthy Eaters reported the most days of poor mental and physical health. Conclusions: Heavy drinkers and unhealthy eaters had the highest number of days of poor health, which also places them at risk for a host of health adversities throughout adulthood. Examining motivations behind young adults' patterns of consumption and activity is an important future direction to identify mechanisms for healthy lifestyle promotion during the transition to adulthood.

Does low alcohol use increase the risk of sickness absence? A discordant twin study.

BackgroundResults from observational studies suggest that people who drink little or no alcohol are less healthy than medium drinkers. This has been demonstrated for many different measures of health, including sick leave. However, whether these associations are causal or due to confounding remains to be clarified. The aim of this study was to use a discordant twin design to determine whether the increased level of sick leave associated with a low level of alcohol consumption, as compared to those with a medium level of consumption, reflects a causal mechanism or is due to genetic or environmental confounding.MethodsSix thousand seven hundred thirty-four young adult twins from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health’s twin panel were in 1998 assessed for frequency of alcohol use and binge drinking. Data were linked to the Norwegian National Insurance Administration’s recordings of sick leave over a 10 year period. The associations between alcohol consumption and sick leave were first estimated in the total study population, and then within di- and monozygotic twin pairs discordant for alcohol use.ResultsCompared to medium consumption, both low and high alcohol consumption was associated with increased risk of sick leave. When low level drinkers were compared to medium level drinkers in a discordant twin design, the results were consistent with the association being due to genetic confounding rather than a causal effect.ConclusionsThe increased level of sick leave observed with low level drinkers seems to be mainly explained by confounding from genetic factors. In all observational studies of the relationship between alcohol consumption and health, one should be aware that important genetic confounders are likely to influence the results.

Subjective Ratings of Prospective Memory Deficits in Chronic Alcohol Users

Previous research showing everyday memory is impaired by heavy alcohol use may have underestimated the cognitive impairment of heavy users because drinkers consuming over the recommended limits for safe drinking have often been treated as a homogeneous group, often with a low threshold for inclusion. The current study investigated whether the reported linear relationship applies to participants consuming alcohol significantly above recommended limits. The everyday memory of 80 participants (43 men; modal age, 31-35 years) was investigated using the Prospective Memory Questionnaire. Participants also detailed their average weekly intake of alcohol and other substances. Current heavy users of alcohol (who consumed on average over 25 units per week) reported more memory problems than low (1-9 units per week) or medium users (10-25 units per week). Participants undergoing counselling for alcohol use reported more deficits than low or medium drinkers, but fewer than current heavy drinkers. Possible reasons for this were discussed. Strengths and limitations of subjective approaches to memory assessment were discussed as well as suggestions for future research.

Naloxone nonselective suppression of drinking of ethanol, sucrose, saccharin, and water by rats

Naloxone, a nonselective opioid antagonist, has been demonstrated to reduce oral self-administration of ethanol (EtOH) in rats. Conflicting conclusions have been drawn about the effects of naloxone on consumption of non-EtOH control liquids. A preliminary meta-analysis found large and homogeneous effects of naloxone on EtOH consumption and heterogeneous effects on the consumption of control liquids. Although many of the authors concluded that their control liquid results were “not significant,” when they were combined using meta-analytic techniques, it was apparent that there were some strong, but widely divergent, effect sizes. In the first experiment in the current study, 60 male Sprague–Dawley rats were trained to drink 10% EtOH in tap water over 3 weeks of limited-access sessions. Then, their limited-access consumption was measured in single-bottle tests of four liquids (water, 10% EtOH in water, an isocaloric sucrose solution, and an “equally sweet” saccharin solution) 15 min following an intraperitoneal injection of either saline or 1.0 mg/kg naloxone. Every animal was tested 36 times in a counterbalanced order: three times for each liquid following an injection of naloxone and six times for each liquid following an injection of saline. There were distinct differences in the quantity of each liquid consumed in the saline trials. However, the suppression percentages for each liquid in the naloxone trials were identical (∼50%). There were significant correlations, in the range of .23–.42, between the mean amount of each liquid consumed during saline trials for each animal and the suppression percentage during naloxone trials for the same animal and liquid. When the animals were divided into high, low, and medium drinkers for each liquid, the low drinkers demonstrated a much lower suppression after naloxone treatment than did the other two groups. The data confirm that blockade of opioid receptors suppresses consumption of both EtOH and non-EtOH liquids to a degree that is related to the amount of voluntary, untreated consumption of the liquids.

The effects of tolerance on state-dependent learning in social drinkers

Sixty drinkers were assigned to three experimental groups which manipulated pre and post drug state. Subjects on learning trials were exposed to 30 slides, composed of geometrical shapes and alcohol-related self-statements. On the day following learning, subjects were required to try and recognise the 30 original slides out of 60 test slides. Signal detection method was used to analyse differences between the groups. Results showed that medium drinkers who consumed an experimental dose similar to their usual dose showed state dependency over both stimuli. Light drinkers showed an impairment on all alcohol-related conditions but alcohol on learning primed the recognition of alcohol-associated stimuli. Heavy drinkers, who drank a dose that was lower than their usual dose, showed little effect. The findings thus showed the importance of controlling for the level of tolerance and the type of stimuli presented in the State Dependent Learning experiments.