Association of Low to Moderate Alcohol Drinking With Cognitive Functions From Middle to Older Age Among US Adults

Abstract

IMPORTANCE Studies examining the association of low to moderate drinking with various cognitive functions have yielded mixed findings. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether associations exist between low to moderate alcohol drinking and cognitive function trajectories or rates of change in cognitive function from middle age to older age among US adults. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A prospective cohort study of participants drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative sample of US adults, with mean (SD) follow-up of 9.1 (3.1) years. In total, 19 887 participants who had their cognitive functions measured in the HRS starting in 1996 through 2008 and who had participated in at least 3 biennial surveys were included. The data analysis was conducted from June to November 2019. EXPOSURES Alcohol consumption and aging. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Trajectories and annual rates of change for the cognitive domains of mental status, word recall, and vocabulary and for the total cognitive score, which was the sum of the mental status and word recall scores. Participants were clustered into 2 cognitive function trajectories for each cognition measure assessed based on their scores at baseline and through at least 3 biennial surveys: a consistently low trajectory (representing low cognitive scores throughout the study period) and a consistently high trajectory (representing high cognitive scores throughout the study period). RESULTS The mean (SD) age of 19 887 participants was 61.8 (10.2) years, and the majority of the HRS participants were women (11 943 [60.1%]) and of white race/ethnicity (16 950 [85.2%]). Low to moderate drinking (<8 drinks per week for women and <15 drinks per week for men) was significantly associated with a consistently high cognitive function trajectory and a lower rate of cognitive decline.

Association Between Cognitive Function and Early Life Experiences in Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder

“…In the correlation analysis, there was no significant correlation between social cognitive impairment and AUDIT score, while the correlation between social cognitive impairment and childhood maltreatment was significant. Our results are supported by previous research reports (55)(56)(57)(58). One study found that, in men, there were no differences in cognitive decline among alcohol abstainers, quitters, and light or moderate alcohol drinkers (< 20 g/d) (55).…”

“…A two-year longitudinal study that enrolled 12,408 participants by Stampfer et al (56) showed that moderate drinkers had better mean cognitive scores than nondrinkers; up to one drink per day does not impair cognitive function and may actually decrease the risk of cognitive decline. A prospective cohort study (57) found that alcohol consumption was U-shaped in all areas of cognitive function, and low to moderate alcohol consumption was associated with a better overall cognitive score.…”

Reaction Time and Visual Memory in Connection to Alcohol Use In Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder

“…Most cohort studies in the general population addressing the same issue revealed a positive correlation between light / light to moderate alcohol use and cognitive function [26,27,72,73,74] whereas other cohort study found no association between light to moderate alcohol consumption and better or worse cognitive functions [75,76,77]. One study reported a positive association between moderate to heavy drinking and cognitive function [78].…”

Association between healthy eating index-2015 and cognitive function among the United States elderly adults: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2012

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