title: Light-to-moderate drinking and incident heart failure--the Norwegian HUNT study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We analyzed the association between light-to-moderate alcohol intake and the risk of heart failure (HF).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We studied 60,665 individuals free of HF who provided information on alcohol consumption in a population-based cohort study conducted in 1995-97 in Norway. Sociodemographic factors, cardiovascular risk factors and common chronic disorders were assessed by questionnaires and/or by a clinical examination. The cohort was followed for a first HF event for an average of 11.2 ± 3.0 years. Mean alcohol consumption was 2.95 ± 4.5 g/day; 1588 HF cases occurred during follow-up. The quantity of alcohol consumption was inversely associated with incident HF in this low-drinking population. The risk was lowest for consumption over three but less than six drinks/week; the multivariate hazard ratio when comparing this category to non-drinkers was 0.67 (95% CI: 0.50-0.92). Among problem drinkers based on CAGE questionnaires, total consumption showed no favorable association with HF, even when overall consumption was otherwise moderate. Excluding former drinkers and controlling for common chronic diseases had minimal effect on these associations. Frequent alcohol consumption, i.e. more than five times/month, was associated with the lowest HF risk; the adjusted hazard ratio comparing this group to alcohol intake less than once/month was 0.83 (95% CI: 0.68-1.03). We found no evidence for a differential effect according to beverage type, nor that the competing risks of death from other causes modified the association.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Frequent light-to-moderate alcohol consumption without problem drinking was associated with a lower HF risk in this population characterized by a low average alcohol intake.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: katalin.gemes@ki.se.
authors.forename: Katalin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gémes
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Public Health and General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway; Center for Health Care Research, St Olav Hospital, Norway. Electronic address: imre.janszky@ntnu.no.
authors.forename: Imre
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Janszky
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Staffan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahnve
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Krisztina D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: László
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Lars E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Laugsand
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Lars J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Vatten
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Mukamal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Alcohol consumption; Epidemiology; Heart failure; Prospective study; Risk factor