title: Alcohol consumption and risk of death in male physicians with heart failure.
abstract: The 5-year risk of death after onset of heart failure (HF) is about 50%. Although previous studies have shown beneficial effects of light-to-moderate alcohol consumption and risk of cardiovascular diseases and mortality, it is unclear whether moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a lower risk of death in subjects with HF. We investigated whether alcohol consumption and type of alcohol preference are associated with the risk of total mortality in 449 US male physicians with prevalent HF. Alcohol consumption was assessed through food frequency questionnaire, and mortality was ascertained through annual follow-up questionnaires and adjudicated by an Endpoint Committee. The mean age of subjects was 75.7±8.2 years with an average follow-up of 7 years. We found evidence of a J-shaped relation between alcohol consumption and mortality (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval] 1.00 [reference], 0.85 [0.61 to 1.20], 0.60 [0.40 to 0.88], and 0.71 [0.42 to 1.21] for alcohol intake of none, <1 drink/day, 1 to 2 drinks/day, and 3+ drinks/day, respectively [p for quadratic trend=0.058]). There was no relation between beverage preference (beer, wine, or liquor) and mortality. In conclusion, our data showed a J-shaped association between alcohol intake and mortality in patients with HF.
authors.affiliation: Division of Aging, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Andrew B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Petrone
authors.affiliation: Division of Aging, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology and Research Information Center (MAVERIC) and Geriatric Research (GRECC), Boston Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts; Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: J Michael
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gaziano
authors.affiliation: Division of Aging, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology and Research Information Center (MAVERIC) and Geriatric Research (GRECC), Boston Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts. Electronic address: ldjousse@rics.bwh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Djoussé
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002423:Cause of Death / Q000639:trends; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology