Drinking pattern during midlife and risk of developing depression during 28 years of follow-up: A prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND

The long-term impact of alcohol intake in midlife on developing depression is not clear. We aimed to investigate drinking pattern during midlife as a risk factor for developing depression during 28 years of follow-up.

METHODS

We used data from a well characterised prospective cohort study (the Whitehall II study) of 7478 men and women (70% male) aged 35 to 55 years, and free from depression in 1985-1988, followed up regularly until 2013. Drinking pattern was defined in terms of usual and maximum amounts consumed within a single drinking session, total weekly volume of alcohol consumed and drinking frequency. Depression was assessed using the General Health Questionnaire Depression Subscale at multiple follow-up occasions (up to eight times in total). Associations between different drinking pattern components during midlife and depression were estimated using flexible parametric survival models.

RESULTS

After adjustment for confounding factors only abstaining from alcohol during midlife was associated with an increased risk of developing depression during long-term observation. However, this association became non-significant after adjusting for baseline self-reported health.

CONCLUSIONS

In this community dwelling population, drinking pattern during midlife was not associated with an increased risk of developing depression.