Wine Information Council
2013
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The effect of prevalent cardiovascular conditions on the association between alcohol consumption and mortality among older Mexican American men

PURPOSE: To examine the association between alcohol consumption and mortality among older Mexican American men, with and without pre-existing cardiovascular conditions.

METHODS: We conducted survival analysis among 908 men aged 65-80 years from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly (H-EPESE), a longitudinal population-based study of older Mexican Americans who reside in the southwestern United States. Men were categorized into four alcohol-consumption groups: lifetime abstainers, former drinkers, low risk drinkers (< or =30 drinks/month and < or =3 drinks/occasion) and at-risk drinkers (>30 drinks/month or >3 drinks/occasion) and stratified into two groups: those with and those without pre-existing cardiovascular conditions. Mortality was ascertained from 1993-1994 to 2007.

RESULTS: Among participants without pre-existing cardiovascular conditions, former, low risk, and at-risk drinkers had a lower risk for all-cause mortality compared to lifetime abstainers [HR: .70, 95% CI (.50-.99), .64 (.42-.97) and .60 (.40-.92), respectively]. There was no statistically significant association between mortality and any of the alcohol consumption groups among those with cardiovascular conditions.

CONCLUSIONS: Among older Mexican-American men without cardiovascular conditions, former and current drinkers had lower mortality compared to abstainers. No such associations were observed between alcohol use and mortality among those with cardiovascular conditions.

Additional Info

  • Authors

    AlGhatrif M.; Markides K.S.; Kuo Y.F.; Ray L.A.; Moore A.A.

  • Issue

    Ethn.Dis. / pages 168-174 / volume 23

  • Published Date

    2013

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