title: Relation of Heavy Alcohol Consumption to QTc Interval Prolongation.
abstract: Until now, few studies have examined QT intervals in subjects who consume alcohol. We performed this study to evaluate the associations between alcohol consumption and the QTc interval based on a general population. A total of 11,269 adults were examined using a multistage cluster sampling method to select a representative sample of subjects aged ≥35 years. Participants were asked to provide information about their alcohol consumption, and all participants received electrocardiograms and echocardiograms. A prolonged QTc interval was defined according to the national guidelines, which specify thresholds of ≥460 ms in women and ≥450 ms in men. Patients were divided into 3 categories, based on the amount of alcohol they consumed: heavy drinkers (>15 g/day for women and >30 g/day for men), moderate drinkers (≤15 g/day for women and ≤30 g/day for men), and nondrinkers (0 g/day). The results showed that the heavy drinkers had longer QTc intervals than did the nondrinkers. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that men who were heavy drinkers had approximately 1.4-fold higher odds of having a prolonged QTc interval (odds ratio 1.431, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.033 to 1.982, p = 0.031) than nondrinkers; in women, heavy drinkers had ∼2.3-fold higher odds of having a prolonged QTc interval (odds ratio 2.344, 95% CI 1.202 to 4.571, p = 0.012) than nondrinkers. Neither men nor women who were moderate drinkers exhibited a significant increase in risk for prolonged QTc interval. In conclusion, heavy alcohol consumption was found to be a risk factor for a prolonged QTc interval.
authors: Department of Cardiology, the First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.
authors: Zhao
authors: Z
authors: Li
authors: Department of Cardiology, the First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.
authors: Xiaofan
authors: X
authors: Guo
authors: Department of Pharmacy, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing Jiangsu, China.
authors: Yamin
authors: Y
authors: Liu
authors: Department of Cardiology, the First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.
authors: Guozhe
authors: G
authors: Sun
authors: Department of Cardiology, the First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China. Electronic address: sunyingxian121@126.com.
authors: Yingxian
authors: Y
authors: Sun
authors: Department of Cardiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors: Yufan
authors: Y
authors: Guan
authors: Department of Cardiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors: Guangshuo
authors: G
authors: Zhu
authors: Department of Cardiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors: Maria R
authors: MR
authors: Abraham
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004452:Echocardiography; D018618:Echocardiography, Doppler, Color; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors