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. 2010 Jul;71(4):515–525. doi: 10.15288/jsad.2010.71.515

Table 3.

Effects of earlier life heavy drinking on health conditions, before and after propensity-score matching

Lifetime abstainer vs. never heavy Less heavy vs. never heavy Young heavy vs. never heavy Heavy 30s vs. never heavy
n of matched pairs 569 564 374 361
Heart problem
 Before matching
  Exposure group,aM (SE) 0.157 (0.014) 0.133 (0.014) 0.134 (0.016) 0.184 (0.017)*
  Control group,bM (SE) 0.148 (0.008) 0.148 (0.008) 0.148 (0.008) 0.148 (0.008)
  Difference, M 0.009 (0.016) −0.016 (0.016) −0.014 (0.019) 0.036 (0.018)*
  Odds ratio [95% CI] 1.07 [0.83, 1.37] 0.88 [0.67, 1.14] 0.89 [0.66, 1.21] 1.30 [1.00, 1.68]*
 After matching
  Exposure group,aM (SE) 0.151 (0.015) 0.138 (0.015) 0.136 (0.018) 0.169 (0.020)
  Control group,bM (SE) 0.183 (0.016) 0.142 (0.015) 0.155 (0.019) 0.180 (0.020)
  Difference, M −0.032 (0.022) −0.004 (0.021) −0.019 (0.025) −0.011 (0.029)
  Odds ratio [95% CI] 0.80 [0.58, 1.09] 0.97 [0.70, 1.35] 0.85 [0.56, 1.30] 0.93 [0.64, 1.35]
Diabetes
 Before matching
  Exposure group,aM (SE) 0.216 (0.016) 0.086 (0.011) 0.122 (0.016) 0.147 (0.016)
  Control group,bM (SE) 0.117 (0.007) 0.117 (0.007) 0.117 (0.007) 0.117 (0.007)
  Difference, M 0.100 (0.018)*** −0.030 (0.014)* 0.006 (0.017) 0.006 (0.017)
  Odds ratio [95% CI] 2.09 [1.65, 2.64]*** 0.71 [0.52, 0.98]* 1.06 [0.77, 1.45] 1.30 [0.98, 1.73]
 After matching
  Exposure group,aM (SE) 0.211 (0.017) 0.089 (0.012) 0.126 (0.017) 0.133 (0.018)
  Control group,bM (SE) 0.148 (0.015) 0.115 (0.013) 0.112 (0.016) 0.139 (0.018)
  Difference, M 0.063 (0.023)** −0.027 (0.018) 0.013 (0.024) −0.006 (0.025)
  Odds ratio [95% CI] 1.54 [1.13, 2.09]** 0.76 [0.52, 1.11] 1.13 [0.73, 1.74] 0.95 [0.62, 1.47]
Hypertension
 Before matching
 Exposure group,aM (SE) 0.456 (0.020) 0.327 (0.019) 0.314 (0.022) 0.314 (0.022)
 Control group,bM (SE) 0.409 (0.011) 0.409 (0.011) 0.409 (0.011) 0.409 (0.011)
 Difference, M 0.047 (0.023)* −0.081 (0.022)*** −0.095 (0.026)*** 0.050 (0.025)*
 Odds ratio [95% CI]) 1.21 [1.01, 1.45]* 0.70 [0.58, 0.85]*** 0.66 [0.52, 0.83]*** 1.23 [1.01, 1.49]*
 After matching
 Exposure group,aM (SE) 0.450 (0.021) 0.344 (0.020) 0.318 (0.024) 0.446 (0.026)
 Control group,bM (SE) 0.473 (0.021) 0.333 (0.020) 0.329 (0.024) 0.421 (0.026)
 Difference, M −0.023 (0.029) 0.011 (0.029) −0.011 (0.033) 0.025 (0.035)
 Odds ratio [95% CI] 0.91 [0.71, 1.15] 1.04 [0.82, 1.32] 0.95 [0.69, 1.30] 1.12 [0.82, 1.53]
a

Exposure groups for the four comparisons are lifetime abstainers, less heavy, young heavy, and heavy 30s, respectively;

b

control group is never heavy for all four comparisons.

*

p < .05;

**

p < .01;

***

p < .001.