Socio-demographic correlates of alcohol consumption in the Danish general population

AIMS: Little is known about specific Danish drinking patterns. This paper investigates how various socio-demographic factors are related to Danish alcohol consumption with special focus on age and sex. METHODS: Data come from a national telephone survey of the Danish general population conducted in 2003 with a final sample size of 2,030 cases. Measures of beverage specific current drinking, overall drinking, daily drinking, heavy episodic drinking, mean consumption, volume per drinking occasion and frequency of drinking were analysed. RESULTS: A little over 5% of the population are abstainers. Fourteen per cent of men and 9% of women are heavy drinkers; 38% of men and 18% of women are heavy episodic drinkers. Youth of both sexes drink heavily, and especially in a binge drinking style. Regular, more temperate drinking is associated with increasing age. Multivariate analyses suggest that other than age and sex, classical socioeconomic factors do not play a great a role in determining drinking patterns. Social integrative factors in particular influence women's drinking. CONCLUSIONS: With respect to the rest of Europe and North America, Danes consume high levels of alcohol with a large percentage of youth drinking in a binge pattern. Classical socioeconomic factors play a lesser role in determining drinking patterns compared to other Western countries. Longitudinal studies and studies of alcohol-related consequences in the Danish general population should be conducted to better formulate alcohol and public health policy.     

Alcohol consumption and cognitive performance in the Framingham Heart Study.

Recent studies have indicated that moderate alcohol intake may be beneficial to cognitive functioning in women, although not necessarily in men. Data from the Framingham Heart Study, a large, prospective study of cardiovascular disease in Framingham, Massachusetts, were used to examine the relation between alcohol consumption and cognitive ability. The major research question was whether a different alcohol-cognition relation would be found for male and female drinkers. Men (n = 733) and women (n = 1,053), aged 55-88 years, were queried as to their weekly intake of alcohol, and these data were used to construct groups of abstainers, very light, light, moderate, and heavy drinkers. Data from earlier reports of alcohol consumption were also examined. Participants were administered eight tests which reflect performance in the domains of verbal memory, learning, visual organization and memory, attention, abstract reasoning, and concept formation. Multivariate linear regression analyses were used with statistical adjustment for age, education, occupation, cardiovascular disease, and associated risk factors. Women who drank moderately (2-4 drinks/day) showed superior performance in many cognitive domains relative to abstainers. For men, superior performance was found within the range of 4-8 drinks/day, although fewer significant relations were observed. These results were confirmed by prospective analyses of 24-year drinking history.     

Poor health is associated with episodic heavy alcohol use: evidence from a National Survey

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between self-rated health and episodic heavy drinking in a representative sample of American adults. We also sought to determine ethnic and gender differences in the association between self-rated health and episodic heavy drinking. METHODS: Data (n=4649) from the Third US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were utilized for this investigation. Episodic heavy drinking was defined as the consumption of five or more and four or more alcoholic beverages on one occasion for men and women, respectively. Poor health was defined as answering fair or poor to the question: "Would you say your health in general is excellent, very good, good, fair or poor?" Odds ratio from the logistic linear regression analysis was used to estimate the risk for poor health that was associated with episodic heavy drinking. Statistical adjustments were made for age, hypertension, diabetes, current smoking, body mass index and race/ethnicity. RESULTS: Overall, episodic heavy drinking was associated with increased odds of poor self-rated health in men and women. In men, episodic heavy drinking was independently associated with 1.28 (95% CI: 1.07-1.82) increased odds of poor health. The corresponding value in women was 1.86 (95% CI: 1.05-2.28). In men, being Black was associated with approximately two-fold (OR=1.96; 95% CI: 1.33, 2.89), and being Hispanic was associated with approximately four-fold (OR=3.59; 95% CI: 2.50, 5.14) increased odds of poor self-rated health relative to being White. The corresponding odds ratios in women were 2.97 (95% CI: 1.90, 4.64) and 5.18 (95% CI: 3.23, 8.30). Associations were greater among blacks (adjusted OR=2.41; 95% CI: 1.81-3.22) and Hispanics (adjusted OR=4.15; 95% CI: 3.12-5.52) than among whites. CONCLUSIONS: Poor health is associated with episodic heavy alcohol consumption. Public health strategies to curb alcohol abuse may improve self-reported health status in these at-risk populations.     

A comparison of cognitive performance in binge versus regular chronic alcohol misusers.

One hundred cases of individuals assessed for alcohol-related cognitive performance were examined. The assessment included demographic and alcohol consumption data, as well as performance on tests of auditory verbal learning, memory, motor skills, general intellectual functioning, and visuospatial functioning. All participants regularly drank in excess of 10 standard drinks/session. Fifty cases were binge drinkers who consumed alcohol on 2 days/week or less and 50 cases were individuals who consumed alcohol daily. The two groups of drinkers were statistically matched on a number of demographic and misuse factors. The results indicated similar performance for both the binge drinkers and the regular drinkers in visuo-motor speed, visuo-spatial organization and planning, learning, proactive interference, retroactive interference, and retrieval efficiency. However, performance differences were observed on tasks that required semantic organizational ability, with binge drinkers performing better than regular drinkers on these tasks. Due to the differences in the cognitive performance of the two groups, it was concluded that drinking pattern is an important factor in investigating cognitive performance in alcoholics.     

Riskanter Alkoholkonsum und Rauschtrinken unter Berücksichtigung von Verletzungen und der Inanspruchnahme alkoholspezifischer medizinischer Beratung

The German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS1) was conducted from 2008–2011 and comprised interviews, examinations and tests. The target population was the resident population of Germany aged from 18–79 years (n?=?8,152). Data on alcohol consumption, at-risk drinking and heavy episodic drinking was collected in a self-administered questionnaire with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test–Consumption (AUDIT-C). At-risk drinking is most common among young individuals aged from 19–29 years (men 54.9?%; women 36?%), becoming less common from an age of 65 years. With 41.6?%, at-risk drinking is more prevalent in men than in women (25.6?%). Men are three times more likely to be heavy episodic drinkers than women. Injuries are more common among individuals with at-risk or heavy episodic drinking. They receive advice on alcohol consumption during visits to general practitioners/specialists or outpatient departments more often than individuals without these drinking patterns. An English full-text version of this article is available at SpringerLink as supplemental.     

Weekday distribution of head traumas in patients admitted to the emergency department of a city hospital: effects of age, gender and drinking pattern

AIMS: To define the alcohol-related risk for head traumas and to compare the weekly and monthly variations in alcohol consumption, and the occurrence of head traumas in a population with heavy episodic drinking as the prevailing drinking pattern. METHODS: All consecutive admissions due to head trauma into a Finnish city hospital during 1 year (1999) were recorded. 832 consecutive patients with data on alcohol consumption were covered. We compared the number of final diagnoses of head traumas per day and month to the anticipated frequency in the absence of any weekly or monthly variation. Official statistics on alcohol consumption in Finland are presented as reference. RESULTS: Alcohol-related head traumas were most common in young adults and people of working age. The occurrence of head traumas in sober subjects showed no temporal variations. By contrast, alcohol-related cases peaked on weekends and in the most popular vacation month (July). The alcohol-related risk from Friday to Sunday was 27.3% in women and 20.3% in men. The additional risk related to alcohol consumption in July was 16.1% in women and 5.3% in men. CONCLUSIONS: We found an excess of head traumas during weekends and the primary vacation month, and this excess was associated with heavy episodic drinking. Active measures are needed to prevent head traumas caused by this type of behaviour.     

Hazardous alcohol drinking in the former Soviet Union: a cross-sectional study of eight countries

BACKGROUND: Hazardous consumption of large quantities of alcohol is a major cause of ill-health in the former Soviet Union (fSU). The objective of this study was to describe episodic heavy drinking and other hazardous drinking behaviors in eight countries of the fSU. METHODS: Data from national surveys of adults conducted in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine in 2001 were used (overall sample size 18,428; response rates 71-88%). Heavy episodic drinking, high alcohol intake, drinking alcohol during the working day, and using illegally produced strong spirits were examined. RESULTS: On average, 23% of men and 2% of women were defined as heavy episodic drinkers (> or = 2 l of beer or > or = 750 g bottle of wine or > or = 200 g strong spirits at least once every 2-3 weeks). This was more common in young males, women who are single or who are divorced/separated/widowed, in smokers, and in frequent alcohol drinkers. About half the respondents who drank strong spirits obtained at least some alcohol from private sources. Among drinkers, 11% of males and 7% of women usually took their first drink before the end of working day. CONCLUSIONS: Heavy episodic alcohol drinking is frequent in males throughout the region--although prevalence rates may have been affected by underreporting--but is still relatively rare in women. Alcohol policies in the region should address hazardous drinking patterns and the common use of illegally produced alcohol.     

Next day effects of a normal night's drinking on memory and psychomotor performance

AIM: To investigate in social drinkers the effects of a 'normal' evening of drinking alcohol on cognitive performance. METHODS: Aiming for ecological validity, the study required participants to consume their usual quantity of any type of alcoholic beverage in their chosen company (hangover situation). However, the timing of drinking was restricted to the period between 22:00 and 02:00 hours on the night before testing. Testing included memory and psychomotor performance tests; testing was also performed after an evening of abstinence (no hangover situation), following a counterbalanced design using repeated measures, with time of testing (09:00, 11:00 and 13:00 hours) and order of testing (hangover/no hangover; no hangover/hangover) as 'between participant' factors in the analysis. RESULTS: Forty-eight social drinkers (33 women, 15 men) aged between 18 and 43 years were tested, with a 1-week interval between test sessions. The morning after alcohol (mean consumption: 14.7 units for men; 10.4 units for women), free recall was impaired at 09:00 hours and delayed recognition and psychomotor performance were impaired throughout the morning, despite blood alcohol levels of zero or very near zero. CONCLUSION: Memory and psychomotor performance is impaired on the morning after heavy 'social' drinking.     

Specificity of early movie effects on adolescent sexual behavior and alcohol use

Adolescents' movie sex exposure (MSE) and movie alcohol exposure (MAE) have been shown to influence later sexual behavior and drinking, respectively. No study to date, however, has tested whether these effects generalize across behaviors. This study examined the concurrent influences of early (i.e., before age 16) MSE and MAE on subsequent risky sex and alcohol use among a national sample of 1228 U.S. adolescents. Participants reported their health behaviors and movie viewing up to six times between 2003 and 2009 in telephone interviews. The Beach method was used to create a population-based estimate of each participant's MSE and MAE, which were then entered into a structural equation model (SEM) to predict lifetime risky sex and past month alcohol use at ages 18–21. For both men and women, MAE predicted alcohol use, mediated by age of initiation of heavy episodic drinking (HED) and age of sexual debut; MAE also predicted risky sex via age of sexual debut. Among men only, MSE indirectly predicted risky sex and alcohol use. Findings indicated that early exposure to risk content from movies had both specific and general effects on later risk-taking, but gender differences were evident: for men, MSE was a stronger predictor than MAE, but for women, only MAE predicted later risk behavior. These results have implications for future media research, prevention programs for adolescent sex and alcohol use, and movie ratings that can guide parents' decisions as to which movies are appropriate for their children.     

Biological features of women's alcohol use: a review

Sensitivity to gender issues in the research community has generated a modest but growing amount of data on the biological effects of alcohol consumption on women. Data generally indicate that the same amounts of alcohol have greater effects on women and that women develop more severe alcohol problems than men over shorter drinking histories. Despite a number of studies, however, there are no clear differences between women and men in the impact of alcohol consumption on cognitive processes. Although the findings are mixed, the data point toward greater physiological deterioration among women as compared with men who have similar drinking histories. These differences may be related to the differences in patterns of social recognition and reaction that occur in instances of alcoholism among women. Such differences are confirmed by other data that indicate greater social isolation and general disorganization among female alcoholics than among male alcoholics. The risks of fetal alcohol syndrome that are associated with heavy alcohol consumption among women during pregnancy have been established, and a complex of other relationships between alcohol consumption and reproductive-related systems and behaviors exists. Linkages between sexual dysfunction, sexual satisfaction, and alcohol consumption appear to exist, but have not yet become clearly understood. It appears that alcohol may be used as a self-medication to cope with perceived problems of sexuality. It also appears that heavy alcohol consumption can contribute to sexual dysfunction and dissatisfaction. A growing body of sophisticated experimental research has established relationships between patterns of alcohol metabolism and phases of the menstrual cycle, with this literature offering some of the clearest indications of distinctive differences between the sexes in the biological consequences and correlates of alcohol consumption.     

Sex Differences in Mental Rotation and Line Angle Judgments Are Positively Associated with Gender Equality and Economic Development Across 53 Nations

Mental rotation and line angle judgment performance were assessed in more than 90,000 women and 111,000 men from 53 nations. In all nations, men’s mean performance exceeded women’s on these two visuospatial tasks. Gender equality (as assessed by United Nations indices) and economic development (as assessed by per capita income and life expectancy) were significantly associated, across nations, with larger sex differences, contrary to the predictions of social role theory. For both men and women, across nations, gender equality and economic development were significantly associated with better performance on the two visuospatial tasks. However, these associations were stronger for the mental rotation task than for the line angle judgment task, and they were stronger for men than for women. Results were discussed in terms of evolutionary, social role, and stereotype threat theories of sex differences.     

Cognitive functioning in late life: the impact of moderate alcohol consumption

PURPOSE: Sex differences in the association between moderate alcohol consumption and cognitive functioning were examined during 4 years. METHODS: Participants were 2716 US older adults 70 years and older (mean age, = 76.02 years) who were free of cognitive impairment from the Second Longitudinal Study of Aging (1994 to 2000). Multiple logistic regression models were used to predict cognitive functioning (adapted Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status) from average daily alcohol intake (no drink, one drink or less daily, and more than one drink daily) during 4 years after controlling for covariates. RESULTS: Sex differences in the association between alcohol consumption and cognitive functioning were found (p < 0.01). Older adults with alcohol consumption of one drink or less per day had a lower odds of low cognitive functioning compared with abstainers for women (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.55-0.83), but not men (AOR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.69-1.34). CONCLUSIONS: For older adults with a level of cognitive functioning within normal ranges, moderate amounts of alcohol, an average of one drink or less daily, was protective for women, but not men. Caution should be used in suggesting moderate alcohol consumption to maintain cognitive functioning because of the risks of consuming alcohol.     

Alcohol Consumption and Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis among Chinese Adults: A Prospective Study

Alcohol consumption may be associated with the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but potential sex-related differences in this association have not been explored. Thus, we utilized 87,118 participants in the Kailuan Study, a prospective cohort initiated in 2006 to study the risk factors of cardiovascular disease in a Chinese population. We included those that did not have RA at baseline (2006), and performed cox proportional hazard modeling to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of RA according to the levels of alcohol consumption (never or past, light or moderate (<1 serving/day for women, <2 servings/day for men), and heavy (>1 serving/day for women, >2 servings/day for men), adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, and smoking. Diagnoses of RA were confirmed via medical record review by rheumatologists. From 2006 to 2018, we identified 87 incident RA cases. After adjusting for potential confounders, the HR of RA was 1.26 (95% CI: 0.62, 2.56) for participants with light or moderate alcohol consumption and 1.98 (95% CI: 0.93, 4.22) for participants with heavy alcohol consumption) versus non-drinkers. The HR of each 10 g increase in alcohol consumption was 1.11 (95% CI: 0.98, 1.26) (p-trend = 0.09). A significant association between alcohol consumption and RA risk was observed in women, but not in men (p for interaction = 0.06). Among women, each 10 g increase in alcohol consumption was significantly associated with a high risk of RA (HR: 1.56; 95% CI: 1.06, 2.29). In contrast, each 10 g increase in alcohol consumption was not significantly associated with the risk of RA in men (HR: 1.10; 95% CI: 0.97, 1.25). Excluding past drinkers generated similar results. In this prospective Chinese cohort, increasing alcohol consumption was associated with an elevated risk of RA among women, but not in men. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating analysis of sex differences into future studies of alcohol consumption and RA risk.     

Increased one week soybean consumption affects spatial abilities but not sex hormone status in men

BACKGROUND: Increased soybean intake is often recommended for the prevention of hormone-dependent cancer, cardiovascular diseases and age-related cognitive decline. Although isolated phytoestrogens have shown these positive effects, the evidence for such influence of increased consumption of soybeans is lacking. AIM: To prove the effects of short-term increased soybean intake on sex hormone levels and spatial cognitive parameters in men. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Seven young healthy men were asked to eat 900 g soybeans during 1 week. Sex hormone levels were determined in saliva and plasma, and mental rotation and spatial visualization were quantified by standard psychometric tests. All parameters were assessed before and after the study. RESULTS: Plasma estradiol, total and free testosterone, as well as salivary testosterone and estradiol remained unchained. Spatial cognitive performance was improved after increased soybean intake when considering spatial visualization (P=0.03). The results for mental rotation showed similar dynamics, but the changes were not significant. CONCLUSION: Short-term increased soybean intake does not affect sex hormone status, but improves spatial cognitive performance in young healthy men.     

The effects of wine and tobacco consumption on cognitive performance in the elderly: a longitudinal study of relative risk

BACKGROUND: Evidence relating to the potentially protective effect of smoking and alcohol consumption in relation to senescent cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease is inconclusive. METHODS: The relationship between wine and tobacco consumption and cognitive change was assessed within a longitudinal study of normal elderly people showing recent instability in cognitive functioning using an extensive battery of cognitive tests. RESULTS: While moderate wine consumption was found to be associated with a fourfold diminishing of the risk of Alzheimer's disease (OR = 0.26), as found in other studies, this effect was found to disappear when institutionalization was taken into account. Wine consumption was associated with an increased risk of decline over time in attention and in secondary memory. No protective effect for Alzheimer's disease was found for smoking, although smoking was associated with a decreased risk for decline over time in attentional and visuospatial functioning. No clear combined effect of smoking and drinking was found, even though smoking was found to increase the risk of decline in language performance when adjusted on wine consumption. CONCLUSIONS: There is no evidence to suggest that wine and tobacco consumption may protect against Alzheimer's disease.     

The association between stress and drinking: modifying effects of gender and vulnerability

AIMS: To assess the relationship between number and type of past-year stressful experiences and alcohol consumption, with a focus on how gender, poverty, and psychological vulnerability moderate this association. METHODS: Data from 26 946 US past-year drinkers 18 years of age and over, interviewed in the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), were used to construct multivariate linear regression models predicting six measures of drinking pattern and volume. RESULTS: There was a consistent positive relationship between number of past-year stressors experienced and all measures of heavy drinking. Frequency of heavy (5+ drinks for men; 4+ drinks for women) drinking increased by 24% with each additional stressor reported by men and by 13% with each additional stressor reported by women. In contrast, the frequency of moderate drinking (<5 drinks for men; <4 drinks for women) decreased as stress levels increased. Job-related and legal sources of stress were more strongly associated with alcohol consumption than were social and health-related stress. Men showed a stronger association than women between the number of stressors and the most consumption measures; they also responded more strongly to the presence of any legal and job-related stress. Having an income below the poverty level intensified the effects of job-related stress, but having a mood or anxiety disorder did not affect any of the associations between stress and consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Stress does not so much lead individuals to drink more often as to substitute larger quantities of alcohol on the days when they do drink. Treatment and brief interventions aimed at problem drinkers might benefit from addressing the issue of tension alleviation and the development of alternative coping mechanisms.     

Associations of alcohol consumption with blood pressure, lipoproteins, and subclinical inflammation among Turks

Gender-related impact of alcohol consumption on blood pressure (BP), serum lipoprotein profile, and C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations was evaluated prospectively. Alcohol drinking status was assessed as abstainers and categories of light, moderate, and heavy (daily >40 ml ethanol) intake. Mean age of the 3,443 men and women who were followed up for a mean of 7.4 years was 47.6 ± 12 years. In each multivariable linear or logistic regression analysis, alcohol drinking status was adjusted for age, sex, smoking status, and physical activity. Among men, drinking was significantly associated positively with low-density lipo protein (LDL) cholesterol, apolipoprotein (apo) B, systolic and diastolic BP, and with CRP in a log-linear manner exhibiting features of a threshold at heavy drinking. With respect to response of serum triglycerides to light-to-moderate drinking, whereas men exhibited a significant increase, women exhibited a decline (P < .05). Lower BPs (P < .03) and CRP levels (P = .032) were observed in female drinkers than abstainers and, as distinct from men, no increases in LDL cholesterol and apoB were noted. Heavy drinking tended to protect the sexes against the risk of developing low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in prospective multi adjusted analyses. Sex modulates response of cardiometabolic risk variables to moderate alcohol consumption among Turks. Only women respond with lower triglycerides and CRP, whereas men show a log-linear positive association of drinking categories with BP, LDL cholesterol, apoB, and CRP.     

A longitudinal study of drinking and cognitive performance in elderly Japanese American men: the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study

OBJECTIVES: This study prospectively describes the relationships between alcohol intake and subsequent cognitive performance among participants in the Honolulu Heart Program (HHP). METHODS: Alcohol intake was assessed at Exam III of the HHP, and cognitive performance was measured approximately 18 years later with the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI). Complete information was available for 3556 participants, aged 71 to 93 years at follow-up. RESULTS: In multivariate analyses, the relationship between drinking and later cognitive performance appeared nonlinear, as nondrinkers and heavy drinkers (more than 60 ounces of alcohol per month) had the lowest CASI scores and the highest risks of poor and intermediate CASI outcomes. Compared with nondrinkers, the risk of a poor CASI score was lowered by 22% to 40% among men who consumed 1-60 ounces of alcohol per month. CONCLUSIONS: We report a positive association between moderate alcohol intake among middle-aged men and subsequent cognitive performance in later life. However, it is possible that the health risks associated with drinking outweight any potential benefits for many elderly persons.     

Amount and Frequency of Alcohol Consumption and All-Cause Mortality in a Japanese Population: The JMS Cohort Study

Background

Lower mortality has been reported in light-to-moderate alcohol drinkers. We examined the association between the amount and frequency of alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality in a Japanese population.

Methods

We conducted a prospective cohort study among 8934 Japanese people (3444 men and 5490 women) who completed a baseline survey between 1992 and 1995. We confirmed the date and cause of death by referring to death certificates. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the effect of alcohol consumption on risk for all-cause mortality, after adjustment for potential confounding factors.

Results

We identified 637 (397 men and 240 women) deaths during the 12.0 years of mean follow-up. Among men, as compared with non-drinkers, the relative risk was higher in ex-drinkers (hazard ratio [HR], 1.18), lower in light drinkers (HR, 0.95) and moderate drinkers (HR, 0.91), and significantly higher in heavy drinkers (HR, 1.67; 95% confidence interval, 1.10–2.55). Among women, light, moderate, and heavy drinkers were grouped into current drinkers. The relative risk was slightly higher in current drinkers (HR, 1.23), and that in ex-drinkers was near 1.0 (HR, 0.97). In stratified analysis, the harmful effects of heavy drinking were more severe among male smokers and younger men. In terms of frequency, men who drank only on special occasions had the highest mortality (HR, 1.28), regardless of alcohol intake per drinking session.

Conclusions

In men, a near J-shaped association was identified between alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality. Both the amount and frequency of alcohol consumption were related to mortality.Key words: cohort studies, alcohol drinking, mortality, Japan     

Joint use of clinical parameters,biological markers and CAGE questionnaire for the identification of heavy drinkers in a large population-based sample

AIMS: Alcohol consumption in France is one of the highest in the world. Factors associated with excessive alcohol drinking are numerous. However, taken separately, none of the existing clinical or biological markers of excessive alcohol intake enables an adequate identification of heavy drinkers. The aim of this cross-sectional survey was to identify socio-demographic, clinical and biological factors associated with excessive alcohol drinking, to develop a model and to assess its reliability, thus enabling the detection of heavy drinkers. METHODS: Subjects were 1619 men and 1559 women, aged 35-64 years, living in three French areas (Lille, Strasbourg and Toulouse) and randomly selected from polling lists. Socio-demographic status, lifestyle, reported alcohol intake and answers to the CAGE questionnaire (alcohol dependence) were obtained by questionnaire. A blood sample was taken for quantification of biological parameters. Men who drank 60 g of ethanol a day (g/day) or above and women who drank 30 g/day or above were classified as heavy drinkers. The reference class (RC) gathered non-drinkers and moderate drinkers together. The sample was divided into two sub-samples: the first was used to estimate the parameters of a logistic regression model (heavy drinkers vs others), and the second to assess the accuracy of this model for the identification of heavy drinkers, using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. A specific analysis was performed for each gender. RESULTS: Fourteen per cent of men and 40.8% of women were non-drinkers. Nine per cent of women and 14.4% of men were heavy drinkers. Wine was the most consumed alcoholic beverage. In the univariate analyses, differences were observed between the two groups of alcohol consumers for most of the socio-demographic, clinical and biological variables considered. In the multivariate analyses, low educational level, smoking, apoprotein B, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), gamma-glutamyl-transferase (GGT) and the CAGE score for men, and living area, age, MCV, GGT and the CAGE score for women remained independently and significantly associated with heavy drinking. In the validation sub-sample, these models combining different types of markers enabled a good discrimination between heavy drinkers and the RC, with an area under the ROC curve of 82% for men and of 79% for women. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, socio-demographic, clinical and biological factors and the CAGE score were independently related to excessive alcohol drinking and their joint utilization in a screening model enabled a good recognition of heavy drinkers.