title: Longevity among ethnic groups in alcoholic liver disease.
abstract: As part of a multicenter V.A. Cooperative Study, 437 male veterans with varying stages of alcoholic liver injury were followed over a 4.5 year period. Their ethnic distribution consisted of 256 Caucasians, 109 black Afro-Americans, 63 Puerto Rican Hispanics, and 9 Native American Indians. Survival analyses revealed significant differences between groups (P = 0.0002): 66% of Afro-Americans were still living at 42 months; Caucasians were intermediate with 40% survival; and only 28% of Hispanics were alive. The number of Native American Indians enrolled was too small to draw conclusions but none of those enrolled survived beyond 24 months. Survival regression analysis of 30 clinical, laboratory, histologic and nutritional parameters, revealed the following significant risk factors: clinical severity (P less than 0.0001), histologic severity (P less than 0.0001), race (P = 0.001), age (P = 0.002), BUN (P = 0.01) and ALT (P = 0.02). These analyses indicated that ethnicity, independent of other variables, is significantly associated with outcome from the disease.
authors.affiliation: Veterans Administration Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Mendenhall
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Gartside
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Roselle
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Grossman
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Weesner
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chedid
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications*; D044383:Black People; D005006:Ethnicity; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D008108:Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D008136:Longevity; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000208:ethnology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D044465:White People; D001741:Black or African American