An appraisal of the effects of usual vs recent alcohol intake on blood pressure.

1. In a population-based study of 343 men from two public utilities, 260 subjects reported drinking alcohol at least once a week. In these subjects a comparison was made of the relative effects on blood pressure of either their usual alcohol intake (assessed from a 7-day retrospective diary) or recent alcohol intake (alcohol consumed at the last drinking session in the 24 h prior to blood pressure measurement). 2. Both usual and recent alcohol intake showed similar correlations with level of blood pressure (BP). After adjustment of BP for the potential confounding influences of body mass index, age and smoking status, systolic and diastolic BP remained highest in those subjects with the highest reported levels of both usual and recent alcohol intake. 3. In regression analyses comprising only those subjects who reported drinking in the 24 h before BP measurement, a 3-4 fold greater effect of usual rather than recent intake on both systolic and diastolic BP was predicted from the b coefficients. Regression analysis also demonstrated that the relationship between usual alcohol intake and BP was independent of recent intake, while the relationship between recent intake and BP was no longer significant when usual alcohol intake was entered into the regression equation. 4. These observations suggest that consistent regular drinking is a more important determinant of the alcohol/BP relationship than intake in the previous 24 h.