Abstract
Aims: The aim of this study was to examine if problem drinkers have varying risks of having alcohol-related diseases according to their reported beverage consumed. Methods: In a cross-sectional study all consecutive inpatients aged 18- 64 years from four general hospitals of one catchment area were systematically screened for alcohol use. A total of 1011 men with problem drinking were used for this study. Routine treatment diagnoses for all participants were provided by hospital physicians and were classified into three categories according to their alcohol-attributable fractions (AAF; AAF = 0; AAF < 1; AAF = 1). Results: According to their reported beverage consumed, 53.0% of the participants were identified as exclusively beer drinkers, 14.1% exclusively spirits drinkers, 26.0% mixed beer and spirits drinkers and 6.9% individuals drinking wine exclusively or in combination with one or two other beverages (mixed wine drinkers). Compared to spirits drinkers and controlling for possible confounders (i.e. alcohol-associated characteristics, demographic variables), multinomial regressions revealed that beer drinkers, mixed beer and spirits drinkers, and mixed wine drinkers had lower odds of having diseases with AAF = 1 than spirits drinkers (e.g. for AAF = 1: beer versus spirits drinkers: OR = 0.42, CI: 0.25-0.72). Beer drinkers and mixed wine drinkers also had lower odds of having diseases with AAF < 1 than spirits drinkers (e.g. mixed wine versus spirits drinkers: OR = 0.36, CI: 0.18-0.72). Conclusions: These data suggest an association between the reported beverage consumed and alcohol-related diseases. Among hospitalized problem drinkers, spirits drinkers had the greatest risk of having diseases with AAF < 1 and with AAF = 1.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Alcohol and Alcoholism |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 216-221 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| ISSN | 0735-0414 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 |
Funding
Acknowledgements — As part of the Research Collaboration in Early substance use Intervention (EARLINT), this study has been funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (01EB0120, 01EB0420) and the Social Ministry of the State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (IX 311a 406-68-43-05). The funding sources had no further role in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the paper for publication. The authors wish to thank Karin Paatsch, Dr Barbara Wedler, Christine Fehlhaber, Birgit Hartmann and Katrin Stegemann for implementing the study; the medical and nursing staff of the University Hospital Greifswald, the Hanse Hospital Stralsund, the District Hospitals Dem-min and Malchin/Dargun for their cooperation with the project; and the patients for their participation.
Research Areas and Centers
- Academic Focus: Center for Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM)
