ALCOHOL INTAKE AND INCIDENCE OF CORONARY DISEASE IN AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES.

Aims: To examine risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in relation to alcohol in a cohort of Australian Aborigines. Methods: In 1988–1989, alcohol intake, drinking pattern, and beverage preference were elicited by interviewer-administered questionnaire in Western Australian Aborigines (258 men and 256 women) and cardiovascular outcomes ascertained through linkage to mortality and hospital admission records to 2002. Results: In proportional hazards models, risk for CHD, relative to lifetime abstainers, was significantly increased in ex-drinkers [Hazard ratio (HR), 2.29; 95% confidence intervals (CI), 1.23–4.27], those drinking 41–60 g/day in men or 21–40 g/day in women (HR 2.80; 95% CI, 1.04–7.53) and those drinking >150 g/day for men or >100 g/day for women (HR, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.03–4.90) with a J-shaped relationship. Low-to-moderate drinkers had lower waist girth, exercised more and had a lower prevalence of overweight and smoking than at-risk drinkers. A preference for wine was associated with lower HR (0.28; 95% CI, 0.10–0.95). With CVD, only ex-drinkers showed significantly increased risk (HR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.20–2.91). Conclusions: More favourable health-related behaviours in low-to-moderate drinkers suggest that lower risk could be mediated by lifestyle, as proposed in other populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]