Light to moderate alcohol consumption and disability: variable benefits by health status

Abstract

In adults, light to moderate alcohol consumption is associated with lower risks for heart disease, diabetes, and mortality. This study examined whether light to moderate alcohol use is also associated with lower risk of incident physical disability over two 5-year periods in 4,276 noninstitutionalized adults in the United States, aged 50 years or older, by using data from 3 waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic Follow-up Study surveys from 1982 to 1992. Light/moderate drinking (<15 drinks per week and <5 per drinking day or 4 per drinking day for women) was associated with reduced risk for incident disability or death over 5 years, compared with abstention (adjusted odds ratio = 0.77; P = 0.008). Among survivors, light/moderate drinking was associated with lower risk for incident disability, compared with abstention (adjusted odds ratio = 0.75; P = 0.009). In stratified analyses, disability risk decreased with light/moderate drinking in a dose-dependent fashion in men and women with good or better self-reported health but not in men or women with fair or worse self-reported health. Alcohol consumption in moderation might reduce the risk of developing physical disability in older adults in good health but not in those in poor health.

Figure 1.

Flow diagram describing those in the study sample from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic Follow-up Study (NHEFS) surveys cohorts who were 50 years of age or older in the 1982–1984 survey.

Figure 2.

Flow diagram describing those in the study sample from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic Follow-up Study (NHEFS) surveys cohorts who were less than 50 years of age in the 1982–1984 survey but were 50 years of age or older in the 1987 survey.

Figure 3.

Unadjusted 5-year (1982–1987 and 1987–1992) incident disability risk as a function of alcohol consumption level in the US civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 50 years or older.

Figure 4.

Model-predicted relative odds of 5-year (1982–1987 and 1987–1992) incident disability or death (relative to abstainers) in US civilian, noninstitutionalized women aged 50 years or older in self-reported good, very good, or excellent health, who are not heavy drinkers, as a function of number of drinks per week.