Table 1.
Selected characteristics* across quintiles of alcohol intake among women in the Nurses’ Health Study in 1994
| Categories of alcohol intake (g/day)† | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| abstainers | Former drinkers |
0.1-4.9 | 5.0-14.9 | 15.0-29.9 | 30.0+ | |
| Age, mean (SD), y | 61 | 61 | 60 | 60 | 61 | 61 |
| Current smokers (%) | 10 | 13 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 29 |
| Reported diagnosis of | ||||||
| Hypertension (%) | 40 | 41 | 35 | 32 | 34 | 41 |
| Diabetes (%) | 10 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| High cholesterol (%) | 48 | 52 | 48 | 45 | 43 | 45 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 27.4 | 27.1 | 26.5 | 25.2 | 24.9 | 25.1 |
| Family history of MI before age 60 (%) | 12 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| Post-menopausal (%) | 81 | 84 | 82 | 82 | 82 | 83 |
| Current use of HRT (%) | 31 | 38 | 38 | 38 | 39 | 33 |
| Aspirin use, ≥7 times / week (%) | 10 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 |
| Vitamin supplement use | ||||||
| Vitamin E (%) | 21 | 29 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 24 |
| Multivitamin (%) | 35 | 48 | 41 | 41 | 39 | 37 |
| Moderate to vigorous physical activity (hours/week ) | 2.9 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.4 |
| Alcohol (g/day) | 0 | 0 | 2.1 | 9.5 | 21.1 | 41.2 |
| Beer (g/day) | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 7.4 |
| Wine (g/day) | 0 | 0 | 1.3 | 4.8 | 11.2 | 9.9 |
| Liquor (g/day) | 0 | 0 | 0.4 | 3.2 | 6.8 | 23.4 |
| Omega-3 fat (mg/day). | 191 | 206 | 223 | 238 | 258 | 225 |
| Alpha-linolenic acid fat (g/day) | 0.9 | 0.84 | 0.88 | 0.87 | 0.88 | 0.87 |
| Trans fat (% energy) | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.3 |
*
All characteristics are age-standardized with the exception of age
†
One drink is ~15 grams of alcohol