Table 4.

All-cause mortality relative risk (RR) estimates for different drinkers compared with abstainers, weighted and adjusted for between-study variation and covariates (N = 523 estimates from 87 studies) in models stratified by type of abstainer bias present

Drinking categories within each group of studies	n	RR	[95% CI]	t test p
Model 1: Both former and occasional drinker biases present (n = 41 studies)
Low volume (1.30–<25 g /day)	84	0.91	[0.83, 1.00]	.0433
Medium volume (25–<45 g/day)	40	1.00	[0.91, 1.10]	.9596
High volume (45–<65 g/day)	29	1.17	[1.06, 1.29]	.0018
Higher volume (≥65 g/day)	25	1.30	[1.17, 1.45]	<.0001
All drinkers combined	178	1.07	[0.86, 1.34]	.3754
Model 2: Former drinker bias only (n = 24 studies)
Occasional (<1.30 g/day)	20	0.93	[0.82, 1.05]	.2286
Low volume (1.30–<25 g /day)	73	0.86	[0.78, 0.95]	.0025
Medium volume (25–<45 g/day)	33	0.99	[0.89, 1.11]	.9251
High volume (45–<65 g/day)	6	1.09	[0.96, 1.24]	.1900
Higher volume (≥65 g/day)	8	1.69	[1.41, 2.03]	<.0001
All drinkers combined	140	1.00	[0.80, 1.25]	.9763
Model 3: Occasional drinker bias only (n = 9 studies)
Former drinker	15	1.21	[1.13, 1.30]	<.0001
Low volume (1.30–<25 g /day)	22	0.86	[0.82, 0.91]	<.0001
Medium volume (25–<45 g/day)	13	0.91	[0.84, 0.99]	.0303
High volume (45–<65 g/day)	14	0.99	[0.91, 1.08]	.8694
Higher volume (≥65 g/day)	5	1.27	[1.12, 1.43]	.0003
All drinkers combined	69	1.00	[0.83, 1.21]	.9451
Model 4: No abstainer biases (n = 13 studies)
Former drinker	26	1.31	[1.09, 1.57]	.0047
Occasional (<1.30 g/day)	4	0.94	[0.71, 1.25]	.6855
Low volume (1.30–<25 g /day)	50	0.90	[0.76, 1.06]	.1961
Medium volume (25–<45 g/day)	19	0.95	[0.80, 1.13]	.5767
High volume (45–<65 g/day)	12	1.11	[0.93, 1.32]	.2381
Higher volume (≥65 g/day)	16	1.42	[1.15, 1.75]	.0012
All drinkers combined	127	1.09	[0.91, 1.30]	.2840

Notes: Estimates adjusted for sampling variability, between-study variation, median age, gender, and country in all models. Bold indicates statistical significance. CI = confidence interval.