Early onset of drinking and mortality among male alcoholics. A result of a 10-year prospective follow-up study in Hokkaido, Japan.

To assess the association of excessive alcoholic drinking and some other factors with mortality of alcoholics, we conducted a 10-year prospective follow-up study of 132 male alcoholic inpatients in Hokkaido, Japan. As a result, age at the baseline survey was significantly associated with the mortality (p < 0.05). Then, age-adjusted hazard ratios (or HRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (or 95% CIs) were calculated for various variables with the Cox's proportional hazard model. The alcoholics with early onset of alcohol drinking (younger than or equal to 16 years old) were indicated as having significantly higher mortality than those with relatively late onset (older than 16 years) (HR = 3.49, 95%CI 1.46-8.35, p < 0.01). The trend of the age-adjusted hazard ratios in relation of early onset of drinking to mortality was significantly noted (trend, HR = 1.53, 95%CI 1.00-2.34, p = 0.05), even after age and the amount of alcoholic intake per opportunity simultaneously adjusted (trend, HR = 1.65, 95%CI 1.07-2.54, p < 0.05). It would be inferred from the finding that excessive alcoholic drinking during adolescence may deteriorate health status in male alcoholics and cause their higher mortality in adulthood.