Alcohol Consumption of German construction workers http://etoh.niaaa.nih.gov/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpcgi.exe

12. Brenner, H.; Arndt, V.; Rothenbacher, D.; Schuberth, S.; Fraisse, E.; Fliedner, T.M. Association between alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality in a cohort of male employees in the German construction industry. International Journal of Epidemiology, 26(1):85-91, 1997. (138021)

This paper presents an analyses on the relation between self-reported alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality in a cohort of 8043 construction workers from Southern Germany in which the methodological concerns of misreporting of alcohol consumption or confounding/inclusion of a high proportion of ex-drinkers or individuals with pre-existing diseases among abstainers is addressed. A major concern of most pertinent epidemiological studies is the validity of the measures of alcohol consumption, which are typically based on self reports. Another concern is that abstainers tend to differ from drinkers in a variety of other potential risk factors. A very strong U-shaped relation between alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality was found. In particular, an almost 3-fold mortality among teetotalers compared to men who consumed 1-49 g of alcohol per day was found along with a strong positive dose-response relation between alcohol intake and all-cause mortality among drinkers. It appears extremely unlikely that the increased mortality among abstainers compared to moderate drinkers would result from confounding or inclusion of a high proportion of heavy drinkers who deny their alcohol consumption or of individuals with pre-existing diseases. Results indicated that the analysis of biological markers showed no significant differences between abstainers who did and abstainers who did not die during the follow-up. Strongly increased mortality was found among heavy drinkers. Exclusion of non-drinkers with pre-existing diseases did not change the U-shaped association between alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality. 30 Ref.

Alcohol consumption of Spanish high school students http://etoh.niaaa.nih.gov/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpcgi.exe

5. Fuentes-Almendras, M.; Mora-Ripoll, R.; Dijk, A.; Dominguez-Garcia, A.; Salleras-Sanmarti, L. Alcohol consumption among high school students in Barcelona, Spain. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 60(2):228-233, 1999. (147929)

Since adolescents are a high-risk group for alcohol-related problems, this study was undertaken to gain insight into the prevalence of alcohol consumption among this population. This study was carried out in the city of Barcelona using an anonymous questionnaire which included information about frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption. The sample population was composed of all the students from 13 to 20 years old who were attending high school during 1992-93 (n=1,137) and 1994-95 (n=1,094). The amount of alcohol consumption was calculated in alcohol units per week for four groups of different beverages (beer, wine, spirits, and aperitifs) and also in grams per day. The results revealed that lifetime prevalence of alcohol consumption was 92.5 percent in 1992-93 and 77.0 percent in 1994-95. Students who drank more frequently were older and male. In 1992-93, 8 percent of female students had an absolute alcohol intake beyond 24 g per day (risk consumption), which was the same percentage in 1994-95. Male students had a higher intake, although risk consumption rate (more than 40 g per day) was similar to that of females, 9 percent and 7.4 percent in 1992-93 and 1994-95, respectively. It is concluded that while changes in the prevalence of drinking are encouraging, the results of this study also show an increase in the quantity of alcohol consumed. 23 Ref.
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