Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, 2 Church Street South, Suite 201, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA.
Psychology Service, VACT Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, 06510, USA.
Biol Sex Differ. 2020 Jul 14;11(1):37. doi: 10.1186/s13293-020-00314-7.
Recent data suggest that excessive alcohol use is increasing among women and older adults. Such trends are concerning, as women are more vulnerable to alcohol-related health consequences, and such health problems may be exacerbated with age. Furthermore, there are sex-specific factors that may influence alcohol consumption among women, including the hormonal changes associated with the menopausal transition and negative affect. The present study sought to investigate transitions in excessive drinking among women across the menopausal transition and included exploration of sex hormones (estradiol; testosterone) and depression.
The present study utilized publicly available data from the Study of Women Across the Nation (SWAN) and included 3302 women (42-52 years old at baseline), who completed 10 years of annual assessments. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) criteria were used as guidance when defining excessive drinking within the present dataset. At year 1, 170 women were identified as drinking excessively. Random-effect logistic regressions were used to examine transitions in excessive drinking.
Women identified as excessive drinkers were more likely to transition to non-excessive drinking across all menopausal transition stages (ORs range = 3.71-5.11), while women were more likely to transition from non-excessive to excessive drinking during the early peri- and postmenopausal stages (OR = 1.52 and 1.98, respectively). Higher testosterone levels were associated with a decreased likelihood of transitioning to non-excessive drinking (OR = 0.59). Depression and estradiol levels were not related to transitions in drinking.
The present study demonstrates that the menopausal transition marks a period of instability in alcohol use among women. Further research is warranted to understand factors related to transitioning in and out of excessive drinking.
最近的数据表明，女性和老年人的过度饮酒行为呈上升趋势。这些趋势令人担忧，因为女性更容易受到与酒精相关的健康后果的影响，而这些健康问题随着年龄的增长可能会加剧。此外，还有一些特定于性别的因素可能会影响女性的饮酒行为，包括与更年期过渡相关的激素变化和负面情绪。本研究旨在调查女性在更年期过渡期间过度饮酒的变化，并探讨了性激素（雌二醇；睾酮）和抑郁。
本研究利用了国家妇女健康研究（SWAN）的公开数据，包括 3302 名女性（基线时年龄为 42-52 岁），她们完成了 10 年的年度评估。本研究中使用了国家酒精滥用和酒精中毒研究所（NIAAA）的标准来定义数据集内的过度饮酒。在第 1 年，有 170 名女性被确定为过度饮酒者。使用随机效应逻辑回归来检查过度饮酒的变化。
被确定为过度饮酒者的女性在所有更年期过渡阶段都更有可能过渡到非过度饮酒（OR 范围为 3.71-5.11），而女性在早期绝经前期和绝经后期更有可能从非过度饮酒过渡到过度饮酒（OR 分别为 1.52 和 1.98）。较高的睾酮水平与非过度饮酒的可能性降低相关（OR=0.59）。抑郁和雌二醇水平与饮酒变化无关。
本研究表明，更年期过渡标志着女性饮酒行为不稳定的时期。需要进一步研究以了解与过度饮酒和非过度饮酒转变相关的因素。
