Gillespie Kerri M, Kemps Eva, White Melanie J, Bartlett Selena E
Faculty of Health, School of Clinical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, QLD, Australia.
College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Front Aging Neurosci. 2025 May 26;17:1569069. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2025.1569069. eCollection 2025.
Alcohol consumption is commonly considered to be a modifiable risk factor in cognitive decline. However, numerous studies have found an association between light to moderate consumption of alcohol and enhanced cognitive function. It has been proposed that this finding is due to the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) or other covariates on drinking behaviors. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of alcohol on cognition, and the impact of different socioeconomic indicators on this relationship.
An online, cross-sectional survey, including an assessment of five domains of cognitive function, was conducted in 123 healthy adults between 18 and 70 years of age. Secondary analysis of the 2018 National Health Survey was conducted to investigate drinking patterns, and their relationships to SES indicators, in the Australian population.
Income and education showed dissimilar patterns of association with alcohol consumption. Enhancements in cognitive function were associated with light to moderate dose and frequency of alcohol consumption when unadjusted, or adjusted for SES using education level as an indicator. Benefits of light to moderate dose and frequency of consumption were not evident when using income as an indicator for SES. Inclusion of language spoken in the home as a covariate also resolved any association between moderate consumption and enhanced cognitive function.
Findings suggest that associations between moderate alcohol consumption and cognition are an artifact of income, language proficiency, and culture. The use of income is more indicative of drinking behavior than education, and should be controlled for in studies of alcohol consumption behavior. Language spoken at home is also an important consideration as this factor is significantly associated with income, alcohol consumption, and cognitive test performance.
饮酒通常被认为是认知能力下降的一个可改变的风险因素。然而，众多研究发现，轻度至中度饮酒与认知功能增强之间存在关联。有人提出，这一发现是由于社会经济地位（SES）或其他协变量对饮酒行为的影响。本研究旨在调查酒精对认知的影响，以及不同社会经济指标对这种关系的影响。
对123名年龄在18至70岁之间的健康成年人进行了一项在线横断面调查，包括对认知功能五个领域的评估。对2018年全国健康调查进行了二次分析，以调查澳大利亚人群的饮酒模式及其与社会经济地位指标的关系。
收入和教育与饮酒呈现出不同的关联模式。在未调整或使用教育水平作为指标对社会经济地位进行调整时，认知功能的增强与轻度至中度饮酒剂量和频率相关。当使用收入作为社会经济地位指标时，轻度至中度饮酒剂量和频率的益处并不明显。将在家中使用的语言作为协变量纳入分析后，也消除了中度饮酒与认知功能增强之间的任何关联。
研究结果表明，中度饮酒与认知之间的关联是收入、语言能力和文化的产物。与教育相比，收入更能表明饮酒行为，在饮酒行为研究中应加以控制。在家中使用的语言也是一个重要考虑因素，因为这一因素与收入、饮酒和认知测试表现显著相关。
