Objectives: To examine the association between alcohol drinking patterns and health-related quality of life (HRQL).
Methods: Population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 2008-2010 among 12,715 adult individuals in Spain. HRQL was assessed with the SF-12 questionnaire and alcohol intake with a diet history. The threshold between average moderate drinking and average heavy drinking was ≥ 40 g/day of alcohol in men and ≥ 24 g/day in women. Binge drinking was defined as the intake of ≥ 80 g in men and ≥ 60 g in women at any drinking session during the preceding 30 days. Analyses were performed with linear regression and adjusted for the main confounders.
Results: Compared to non-drinkers, all types of average drinkers reported better scores on the SF-12 physical component: β=1.42 (95% confidence interval 1.03 to 1.81) in moderate drinkers and β=1.86 (1.07 to 2.64) in heavy drinkers. In contrast, average alcohol consumption was not associated with the mental component of the SF-12. The number of binge drinking episodes and most types of beverage preference showed no association with physical or mental HRQL.
Conclusions: Alcohol drinkers, including those with heavy drinking, reported better physical HRQL than non-drinkers.
Keywords: Alcohol; Binge drinking; Drinking patterns; Health-related quality of life; SF-12 questionnaire.
© 2013.