Alcohol drinking patterns and health-related quality of life reported in the Spanish adult population.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the association between alcohol drinking patterns and health-related quality of life (HRQL).


METHODS
Population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 2008-2010 among 12,715 adult individuals in Spain. HRQL was assessed with the SF-12 questionnaire and alcohol intake with a diet history. The threshold between average moderate drinking and average heavy drinking was ≥ 40 g/day of alcohol in men and ≥ 24 g/day in women. Binge drinking was defined as the intake of ≥ 80 g in men and ≥ 60 g in women at any drinking session during the preceding 30 days. Analyses were performed with linear regression and adjusted for the main confounders.


RESULTS
Compared to non-drinkers, all types of average drinkers reported better scores on the SF-12 physical component: β=1.42 (95% confidence interval 1.03 to 1.81) in moderate drinkers and β=1.86 (1.07 to 2.64) in heavy drinkers. In contrast, average alcohol consumption was not associated with the mental component of the SF-12. The number of binge drinking episodes and most types of beverage preference showed no association with physical or mental HRQL.


CONCLUSIONS
Alcohol drinkers, including those with heavy drinking, reported better physical HRQL than non-drinkers.
Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid/IdiPAZ, Madrid, Spain; CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain; Department of Preventive Medicine, Móstoles University Hospital, Móstoles, Spain. Electronic address: jose.valencia@uam.es.
José Lorenzo
JL
Valencia-Martín
Iñaki
I
Galán
Pilar
P
Guallar-Castillón
Fernando
F
Rodríguez-Artalejo
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D063425:Binge Drinking / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D013030:Spain; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
Alcohol; Binge drinking; Drinking patterns; Health-related quality of life; SF-12 questionnaire