Dose-response relation between volume of drinking and alcohol-related diseases in male general hospital inpatients.

AIMS

Previous studies investigating dose-response relations between volume of drinking and diseases have focused on single diseases only. Until now, the relation between the drinking volume and the risk of having any alcohol-attributable disease is largely unknown. The aim of the present study is to investigate to what extent is the risk of diseases with different alcohol-attributable fractions (AAFs) predicted by daily alcohol consumption (> 120 g, 61-120 g vs 31-60 g).

METHODS

The sample consisted of 805 inpatients classified as at-risk drinking, aged 18-64 years hailing from four general hospitals in North-eastern Germany. Inpatients were classified into three groups (AAF = 1, AAF < 1, AAF = 0). Group differences regarding alcohol-related variables, smoking, and demographics were analysed. A multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to predict the risk of diseases with AAF = 1 and AAF < 1.

RESULTS

In our sample, 26.6% of the inpatients showed a disease with AAF = 1, while 20.2% had a disease with AAF < 1. Inpatients consuming > 120 g, and inpatients consuming 61-120 g revealed significantly higher odds for diseases with AAF = 1 compared to inpatients consuming 31-60 g (OR = 6.30, CI = 3.55-11.26; OR = 2.91, CI = 1.64-5.13). Regarding diseases with AAF < 1, inpatients consuming > 120 g revealed significantly higher odds compared to the inpatients consuming 31-60 g (OR = 1.97, CI = 1.15-3.37).

CONCLUSION

A dose-response relation between the level of the drinking volume and the risk of diseases with AAF = 1 was found in this sample of inpatients from the general hospitals.