The Importance of Methodological Meta-Analyses and a Call to Assess Current and Former Drinking Patterns: A Commentary on Stockwell et al. (2016)

Greenfield, Thomas K.

doi:10.15288/jsad.2016.77.199

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Scholars have expressed concern that former drinkers have been misclassified in past research as alcohol abstainers (Fillmore et al, 2007;Greenfield, 2016;Stockwell et al, 2016). In this U.K. cohort born in 1958 and now in midlife, the latent class analyses did not reveal a group of long-term alcohol abstainers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Alcohol and Cigarette Use From Ages 23 to 55: Links With Health and Well-Being in the Long-Term National Child Development Study

Staff

Maggs

2017

J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs

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Using longitudinal data from the National Child Development Study, an ongoing study of a nationally representative British cohort born in 1958 (n = 9,137; 51% female), we examined how patterns of alcohol and cigarette use from young adulthood (age 23) to midlife (age 55) are associated with health and well-being. Method: We first used a nonparametric multilevel latent class specification to identify eight unique paths of alcohol and cigarette use from ages 23 to 55, and then assessed how these long-term latent paths related to overall health, heart problems, chronic illness, and quality of life at midlife. Results: Results show that adults who consistently drank within current U.K. low-risk guidelines (i.e., not exceeding 14 units of alcohol per week) and abstained from smoking from young adulthood to midlife reported the best overall health and well-being compared with latent paths involving steady, light to moderate drinking and both current and prior smoking, increasing drinking and smoking, and infrequent drinking/abstention. Conclusions: British adults who consistently drank within new lower risk guidelines and abstained from smoking from young adulthood to midlife reported the best overall health and well-being across numerous indicators. However, apparent observed health benefits of stable lowdose alcohol use (vs. abstention) are weakened by the fact that by age 55 almost all alcohol "abstainers" in the National Child Development Study sample were former drinkers, and that respondents who followed infrequent drinking/abstention paths were the mostly likely to report poor health, psychological distress, and low educational qualifications in early adulthood.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Alcohol and Cigarette Use From Ages 23 to 55: Links With Health and Well-Being in the Long-Term National Child Development Study

Staff

Maggs

2017

J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs

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“…Connor (2016) highlights well-substantiated concerns over the validity of conclusions based on observational longitudinal studies of health in general, noting instances in which randomized controlled trials have disconfirmed conclusions based on meta-analysis of cohort studies (e.g., hormone replacement therapy). Greenfield (2016) notes how few cohort studies on the link between alcohol use and mortality take account of the patterning of drinking, whether over weeks, months, or a lifetime. Rehm et al (2016) suggest that although analysis of alcohol and all-cause mortality from published studies holds interest especially at a political level, in practice they recommend different types of studies on which to base estimates of the global burden of disease and low-risk drinking guidelines.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Stockwell et al. Response: Moderate Use of an “Intoxicating Carcinogen” Has No Net Mortality Benefit—Is This True and Why Does It Matter?

Stockwell¹,

Zhao²,

Naimi³

et al. 2016

J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs

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Alcohol and Human Health: What Is the Evidence?

Hendriks¹

2020

Annu. Rev. Food Sci. Technol.

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Alcohol consumption has long been a part of human culture. However, alcohol consumption levels and alcohol consumption patterns are associated with chronic diseases. Overall, light and moderate alcohol consumption (up to 14 g per day for women and up to 28 g per day for men) may be associated with reduced mortality risk, mainly due to reduced risks for cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes. However, chronic heavy alcohol consumption and alcohol abuse lead to alcohol-use disorder, which results in physical and mental diseases such as liver disease, pancreatitis, dementia, and various types of cancer. Risk factors for alcohol-use disorder are largely unknown. Alcohol-use disorder and frequent heavy drinking have detrimental effects on personal health.

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The Importance of Methodological Meta-Analyses and a Call to Assess Current and Former Drinking Patterns: A Commentary on Stockwell et al. (2016)

Cited by 3 publications

References 13 publications

Alcohol and Cigarette Use From Ages 23 to 55: Links With Health and Well-Being in the Long-Term National Child Development Study

Alcohol and Cigarette Use From Ages 23 to 55: Links With Health and Well-Being in the Long-Term National Child Development Study

Stockwell et al. Response: Moderate Use of an “Intoxicating Carcinogen” Has No Net Mortality Benefit—Is This True and Why Does It Matter?

Alcohol and Human Health: What Is the Evidence?

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