BACKGROUND: Two ecological cross-sectional studies which relied on national survey data (U.S. and Australia) have shown that starting drinking at a younger age increases the frequency of heavy drinking in the general population, including those with good mental and physical health status. This study further investigates the hypothesis that age at first use of alcohol increases the risk of heavy alcohol use by applying data from a longitudinal study.
METHOD: This study used public-use data collected from Wave I, Wave III and Wave IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in the United States. The association between age at first use of alcohol and heavy alcohol use (5+ drinks per occasion) was examined with two different multivariate analysis approaches with data from 2316 participants: ordered logistic regression models and Poisson regression models with longitudinal data settings. In addition, the newly developed proxy outcome approach was further used to estimate and adjust for unmeasured/unobserved confounding factors.
RESULTS: Age at first use of alcohol before 18 years was associated significantly higher risk of heavy alcohol use at follow-up.
CONCLUSION: After adjusting for known and residual confounders, younger age at first use of alcohol was associated with significantly higher risk of heavy alcohol use, moreover, we posit that the association observed from this longitudinal study is probably causal. Abstinence from alcohol until the age of 18 years will likely reduce individual risk of alcohol-related problems in adulthood. In the longer term, delayed onset of exposure with widespread abstinence among this age group is also likely to reduce the overall prevalence of alcohol-related problems in the general population.
Aim: This paper examines whether early alcohol consumption is related to adult alcohol consumption and self-reported health. Design: 1,083 people were tracked from the age of 16 years in 1981 to the age of 43, with 94% of the living respondents (n = 1,010) retained in the study.
Setting: Data were drawn from the Northern Swedish Cohort study.
Measures: Alcohol consumption at age 16 was the independent measure. Dependent measures included the level of alcohol consumption at age 43 years and self-reported health status. Socio-demographic control variables included parental relationship status, occupational status and employment, as well as the respondent's smoking status and level of social alienation.
Findings: Women who drank alcohol at greater amounts at age 16 were more likely to drink at a higher level at age 43. No relationship was found between male consumption at age 16 and health or alcohol consumption at age 43. Alcohol consumption at age 16 was not significantly related to self-reported health at age 43 after other background variables had been controlled.
Conclusions: The results partially support previous research indicating an association between adolescent and longer-term adult drinking and health, but also highlight the importance of examining the role of socio-demographic factors as influential confounding variables.
BACKGROUND: Two ecological cross-sectional studies which relied on national survey data (U.S. and Australia) have shown that starting drinking at a younger age increases the frequency of heavy drinking in the general population, including those with good mental and physical health status. This study further investigates the hypothesis that age at first use of alcohol increases the risk of heavy alcohol use by applying data from a longitudinal study.
METHOD: This study used public-use data collected from Wave I, Wave III and Wave IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in the United States. The association between age at first use of alcohol and heavy alcohol use (5+ drinks per occasion) was examined with two different multivariate analysis approaches with data from 2316 participants: ordered logistic regression models and Poisson regression models with longitudinal data settings. In addition, the newly developed proxy outcome approach was further used to estimate and adjust for unmeasured/unobserved confounding factors.
RESULTS: Age at first use of alcohol before 18 years was associated significantly higher risk of heavy alcohol use at follow-up.
CONCLUSION: After adjusting for known and residual confounders, younger age at first use of alcohol was associated with significantly higher risk of heavy alcohol use, moreover, we posit that the association observed from this longitudinal study is probably causal. Abstinence from alcohol until the age of 18 years will likely reduce individual risk of alcohol-related problems in adulthood. In the longer term, delayed onset of exposure with widespread abstinence among this age group is also likely to reduce the overall prevalence of alcohol-related problems in the general population.
Aims: The majority of prospective studies on alcohol use and mortality risk indicate that non-drinkers are at increased risk of death compared to moderate drinkers. This article investigates the association between middle-aged women's alcohol use and mortality, controlling for socio-demographic and health variables. An association between alcohol use and hospital in-patient care is also analysed.
Methods: Baseline data were collected during 1995-2000 in a population-based cohort of 6917 women aged 50-59 years living in southern Sweden, the Women's Health in Lund Area (WHILA). After 9 years, a register follow-up was performed from the National cause-of-death register and the Swedish hospital discharge register. Cox proportional hazards regression were used to analyse differences in survival.
Results: During the observation period, 201 (2.9%) women died. In a crude model, non-drinkers had a significantly increased risk for death. When including socio-demographic predictors in the model, there was a strong indication that non-drinkers were at increased risk for death compared to moderate drinkers. Adding health predictors, not drinking alcohol was no longer a risk factor for death. Further, analyses of in-patient care indicate that non-drinkers had poorer health during their entire adult life.
CONCLUSIONS THIS STUDY UNDERLINES THE IMPORTANCE OF INCLUDING HEALTH STATUS AT BASE-LINE WHEN PROSPECTIVELY STUDYING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ALCOHOL USE AND MORTALITY, OTHERWISE MODERATE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION MAY APPEAR MORE BENEFICIAL THAN IS THE CASE.