Aims: To describe the relationship between indicators of alcohol consumption and major known cardiovascular risk factors, and to test whether these relationships are different for Maori and non-Maori.
Methods: Data from five New Zealand studies (national and population specific) conducted since 1988 were made available to the investigators and were re-analysed by Maori and non-Maori classification using multivariate modelling adjusting for sex and age. Three indicators of alcohol consumption were used: frequency of drinking, volume drunk on a typical or usual occasion, and average daily consumption. Interaction terms were used to test for differences between Maori and non-Maori in the associations between alcohol consumption and cardiovascular risk factors (tobacco smoking, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, high density lipoprotein (HDL), the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL, serum glucose, reported diagnosis of diabetes, and body mass index).
Results: There were a total of 44,830 people in the combined study populations of whom 6926 (15.4%) were Maori. For the risk factors examined, in general Maori had higher levels of risk compared to non-Maori. The pattern of associations between each of the three indicators of alcohol consumption and lipid factors, diabetes, serum glucose level, and obesity were not shown to be different in Maori and non-Maori. However for systolic blood pressure and tobacco smoking, the patterns of association were different.
Conclusion: There are clear associations for most of the cardiovascular risk factors examined and alcohol consumption. These associations are consistent for Maori and non-Maori, except for blood pressure and cigarette smoking. As the study is hypothesis-generating, further investigation is required for confirmation.