Drinking patterns, gender and health I: Attitudes and health practices

Abstract

Background Despite considerable research, relationships among gender, alcohol consumption, and health remain controversial, due to potential confounding by health-related attitudes and practices associated with drinking, measurement challenges, and marked gender differences in drinking. We examined gender/alcohol consumption differences in health-related attitudes and practices, and evaluated how these factors affected relationships among gender, alcohol consumption, and health status. Methods A stratified random sample of adult health-plan members completed a mail survey, yielding 7884 respondents (2995 male/4889 female). Using MANCOVAs and adjusting for health-related attitudes, values, and practices, we examined gender differences in relationships between alcohol consumption and health. Results More frequent heavy drinking was associated with worse health-related attitudes and values, worse feelings about visiting the doctor, and worse health-related practices. Relationships between health-related practices and alcohol use differed by gender, and daily or almost daily heavy drinking was associated with significantly lower physical and mental health for women compared to men. Drinking status (lifelong abstainers, former drinkers, and level of regular alcohol consumption) was related to health status and vitality, even after adjusting for health-related attitudes, values, and practices. Relationships did not differ by gender. Former drinkers reported lower physical and mental health status than either lifelong abstainers or current drinkers. Conclusions Drinking status is independently related to physical health, mental health, and vitality, even after controlling for the health-related attitudes, values, and practices expected to confound these relationships. Among current drinkers, women who engage in very frequent heavy drinking have worse physical and mental health than their male counterparts.

When Does an Episode of Care for Cancer Begin?

“…Each organization provides private and public health insurance coverage, including Medicare Advantage and Medicaid risk contracts, resulting in diverse enrollments that generally represent their local communities. (5, 6) The Institutional Review Boards of the four participating organizations approved this project.…”

The Impact of Weight Gain or Loss on Health Care Costs for Employees at the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies

“…We found that employees who began at high risk for alcohol and then lowered their risk experienced higher cost growth than those who stayed at high risk for alcohol. [30][31][32] Similarly, studies have shown that smokers use more health care immediately after they quit, possibly because contracting a debilitating disease is what convinced them to quit smoking. 33,34 Also, damage caused by smoking and alcohol abuse may not be reversible, particularly not in the short-term.…”

Gender Differences in the Life Concerns of Persons Seeking Alcohol Detoxification

“…While the severity of alcohol use is likely to be the immediate and dominant focus of persons seeking detoxification, impairments in mental health and social functioning (Daeppen, Krieg, Burnand, & Yersin, 1998; Morgan, Landron, Lehert, & New European Alcoholism Treatment Study, 2004; Polen, Green, Perrin, Anderson, & Weisner, 2010) may influence both treatment needs during detox and future service use. For example, women with AUD are more frequently severely depressed than men (Pettinati, Pierce, Wolf, Rukstalis, & O'Brien, 1997) and mental health concerns may guide treatment needs.…”