Alcohol and alcoholism最新文献

Aims: Alcohol consumption is a well-established risk factor for health problems such as cancer; yet, public health campaigns have shown mixed results in their effectiveness to reduce alcohol use. Drawing on the health belief model, this study examines adolescents' self-reported alcohol consumption and explores drivers and barriers to abstaining from or reducing their alcohol consumption, with the ultimate goal of reducing alcohol-attributable cancers.

Method: A large-scale, cross-sectional and cross-national online survey was conducted in 2024 among N = 4054 adolescents between 12 and 18 years, chiefly recruited through schools, in eight European countries (Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland).

Results: Results indicate that 47.5% of adolescents reported never consuming alcohol. Alcohol use increased with age and country differences were observed, while we found no differences in gender. Among the 52.5% participants who reported drinking alcohol, the average intention to reduce consumption was moderate. Adolescents who drank more frequently were less inclined to reduce their alcohol use. Intention to reduce drinking decreased with age. Perceived benefits of alcohol reduction followed by self-efficacy were the strongest predictors of this intention.

Conclusions: The study's results provide valuable insights into adolescent alcohol consumption across Europe, leading to the formulation of concrete guidelines for future prevention campaigns regarding target groups (e.g. age, country), messaging, and framing. Specifically, future alcohol prevention campaigns could emphasize long-term health benefits and aim to increase adolescents' perceptions of self-efficacy to refrain from initiating or to reduce alcohol consumption.

Aims: We aim to investigate alcohol consumption patterns before and after the pandemic onset and utilize liver fibrosis measurements to identify at-risk drinking patterns.

Methods: We selected 10 259 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey across two cohorts: January 2017-March 2020 (pre-pandemic) and August 2021-August 2023 (during-pandemic). We employed the alcohol use questionnaire to identify drinking patterns, including heavy drinking and binge drinking frequencies. Vibration-controlled transient elastography was used to define stage 1 and significant liver fibrosis by liver stiffness measurement >7 to 9 and > 9 kPa, respectively. We first compared the prevalence and frequencies of binge drinking and single day heavy drinking between the two cohorts. We then calculated the odds of liver fibrosis among during-pandemic participants with various alcohol use patterns, compared to pre-pandemic participants with the same use patterns.

Results: We found a higher prevalence of at-risk alcohol use in the during-pandemic cohort, including single-day heavy drinking and binge drinking at least once a month. Notably, the distributions of the frequency of single day heavy drinking and binge drinking were skewed towards a higher frequency of at-risk alcohol use in the during-pandemic group. Furthermore, the odds of significant liver fibrosis were higher among during-pandemic non-heavy/binge drinkers and heavy/binge drinkers, compared to their pre-pandemic counterparts.

Conclusions: The data showed increases in heavy drinking and binge drinking in the during-pandemic cohort, which calls for urgent public health interventions to mitigate future adverse health impacts.

Aims: This study evaluated the accuracy of phosphatidylethanol (PEth), a direct biomarker of alcohol consumption, in distinguishing individuals with and without heavy drinking days, and sought to establish an optimal cutoff using data from a recent clinical trial in alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Methods: Data from a 26-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 127 individuals with AUD were analyzed. A total of 447 blood PEth samples were compared with self-reported heavy drinking days (≥60 grams of alcohol/day for men and ≥48 g/day for women) via Timeline Follow back method and weekly alcohol logs. Spearman correlations between PEth and self-reports were calculated for the past 7, 14, 21, and 28 days at each study visit. Periods with the strongest correlations (past 14-21 days at the Week 4 follow-up) were used for receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses.

Results: Among 127 participants, 63 completed the 26-week follow-up. Moderate-to-strong correlations were observed, strongest at Week 4 (Rho = 0.65, 95% CI, 0.52-0.75, P < .001). ROC analysis at Week 4 showed high discrimination between participants with ≥1 heavy drinking days versus no heavy drinking days (AUC = 0.90, 95% CI, 0.86-0.92), with a PEth cutoff of 0.145 μmol/L (101.9 ng/ml), yielding 95% sensitivity (95% CI, 86-98) and 80% specificity (95% CI, 61-92).

Conclusions: Our findings support the use of PEth as an objective measure of heavy drinking days in a clinical setting. Further research is needed to validate these findings in larger cohorts.

Background: Black men may be especially prone to drinking-to-cope or drinking to alleviate negative affect in early adulthood due to a unique confluence of factors that impact drinking patterns in emerging and early adulthood. The current study examined these associations using a prospective longitudinal design among Black men in rural Georgia. We hypothesized that across time, increases in depression would be associated with decreases in state hope and perceived life chances. Similarly, we anticipated increases in depression and decreases in state hope and perceived life chances would be associated with a greater frequency of alcohol consumption and binge drinking episodes.

Methods: Black men (N = 504) in rural communities were assessed at four timepoints across emerging adulthood. We examined between and within subject effects across time between harmful alcohol consumption and depression, state hope, and perceived life chances, using regression latent curve models with structured residuals (LCM-SR) and random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling (RI-CLPM).

Results: Generally, depressive symptoms, hope, and perceived life chances were not prospectively associated with frequency of alcohol consumption or binge drinking episodes. Binge drinking episodes were associated with increase in subsequent depressive symptoms, but symptoms were not associated with increases in binge drinking.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that despite seeing increased depressive symptoms, decreased hope, and decreased life chances over time, these mood-related factors were not associated with drinking behaviors among this sample of rural Black men. Future research should explore alternative mechanisms that may drive consumption patterns in this marginalized population.

Objectives: Alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis are the most frequently used psychoactive substances in the United States and are commonly used concurrently. This study analyzed patterns of cigarette and cannabis use during a randomized controlled trial (RCT) for alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Methods: This secondary analysis of a 12-week RCT of ibudilast for AUD (N = 102; 61 M/41F) examined whether cigarette and cannabis use changed over the trial and whether changes in their use were associated with the observed reductions in alcohol consumption.

Results: Individuals significantly reduced their cigarette use over the trial (P = .002). Cannabis use significantly decreased during the early phase of the trial (P = .006) and subsequently increased during the remainder of the trial (P = .03). Changes in cigarette use and cannabis use were not significantly associated with changes in the primary drinking outcome, percent heavy drinking day (Ps ≥ .22). However, changes in the secondary drinking outcome, drinks per drinking day (DPDD), were positively associated with changes in cigarette use across the trial and negatively associated with changes in cannabis use during the early phase of the trial (Ps < .05).

Conclusion: Individuals enrolled in an RCT for AUD were able to reduce their cigarette and cannabis use without being prompted to, and these changes were significantly associated with changes in DPDD. These findings emphasize the importance of evaluating co-occurring substance use in AUD clinical trials, given that significant changes in cigarette and cannabis use behaviors may occur even when not directly targeted.

Research aims: To describe alcohol consumption and preferences among both drinkers, and high-risk drinkers; to compare consumption before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic across eight European countries.

Method: Secondary analysis of a dataset from 24 946 respondents 18-90 years old from eight European countries who reported having drunk any alcoholic beverages during the week prior to the online interview (October-November 2022).

Results: Weekly alcohol consumption across countries was between 123.6 and 197.2 grams of pure alcohol per person, with a male/female ratio between 1.1:1 and 1.5:1. Traditional wine-drinking pattern was confirmed for France, Italy, and Greece, as well as for Great Britain. Prevalence of high-risk drinkers (daily consumption >30 grams for females, >40 grams for males) was highest in Great Britain; M/F ratio was between 1.1:1 and 1.3:1, except in Belgium, Great Britain, and Greece, where females outnumbered males. Those older than 65 years and those who resided in the countryside were less likely to be high-risk drinkers. Most respondents reported drinking the same amount of wine and beer in 2022 as before the COVID-19 outbreak, with high-risk drinkers increasing their drinking frequency of all types of alcoholic beverages.

Conclusions: Our results confirm a downward trend in alcohol consumption in most European countries. The gender gap between male and female high-risk drinkers is narrowing or, in some cases, reversing. In 2022, compared with before the COVID-19 outbreak, the majority of respondents reported drinking the same amount of alcoholic beverages, whereas high-risk drinkers increased the frequency of their drinking.

The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to evaluate the association of alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment medications with clinical outcomes in alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) using a nationwide commercial insurance claims and Medicare supplemental database. We found that patients who received a prescription for a medication to treat AUD after a hospital encounter for ALD had reduced mortality.

Background and aims: Early alcohol onset and its association with current use of illicit substances remains understudied in France, and specific information by gender is lacking. To address this question, this study examined the effects of age of alcohol onset and gender on past month use of illicit substances among patients treated for alcohol use disorder (AUD) in France.

Method: The data come from the RECAP study, a national database containing detailed information on patients seeking treatment for substance use disorders collected between 2012 and 2022. The sample comprised 643 942 patients with AUD (21% females). We conducted multivariable modified Poisson regressions to identify factors associated with current use of cannabis, opioids and stimulants. Current use of illicit substances was expressed as incidence rate ratios (IRR).

Results: There has been a decreasing trend of age of alcohol onset over time among patients, particularly notable among women. Women in treatment for AUD were less likely to engage in illicit substance use relative to men. However, an interaction revealed a complementary mechanism: the earlier the age of alcohol onset, the more women with AUD used current opioids or stimulants relative to men.

Conclusion: Early age of onset remains a key feature in the development of polysubstance use among patients treated for AUD, especially among women. Age of onset should be routinely incorporated into assessment protocols as it may help identify patients with high risks of polysubstance use, which is likely to disrupt their recovery process.

Aims: The direction and temporality of the association between alcohol use and pain remain understudied among non-manual workers. This study investigated bidirectional associations between alcohol consumption and pain among current and retired non-manual workers, with exploratory subgroup analyses by retirement transition status, retirement age, and socioeconomic position (SEP).

Methods: Survey data from Phases 7, 9, and 12 (2002-15) of the Whitehall II cohort study were analyzed (n = 5928, baseline mean age 60.7 years, 71% men). Alcohol consumption was assessed through self-reported intake converted to pure alcohol units. Pain severity was derived from musculoskeletal pain-site number and RAND-36 bodily pain measures, categorized as none, mild, or moderate/severe. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models without equality constraints estimated within-person associations, with subgroup analyses by retirement transition and SEP.

Results: At baseline, 23.1% reported above-moderate pain severity and 30.0% exceeded recommended limits (>14 units/week). During 14-year follow-up, 47.3% remained retired, 10.1% were employed, and 40.1% transitioned from employment to retirement. Elevated alcohol consumption was associated with increased pain severity among all participants (βP7 → P9 = 0.07, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.02-0.12; βP9 → P12 = 0.04, 95% CI: 0.00-0.08), with stronger effect among midlife retirees (βP9→P12 = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.04-0.25) and low-SEP participants (βP9→P12 = 0.22, 95% CI: 0.04-0.51). Pain was associated with alcohol consumption at earlier intervals, but associations attenuated subsequently.

Conclusions: Elevated alcohol consumption might be associated with increased pain severity among non-manual workers, particularly midlife retirees and low-SEP individuals. Pain-to-alcohol associations were observed but were inconsistent across intervals.