Table 3.

Mean relative risks (RRs) of coronary heart disease mortality due to alcohol consumption by mean age of the study populations at baseline

		Unadjusted			Partially adjustedb			Fully adjustedc
Drinking categories by mean cohort age	N/na	RR	[95% CI]	t test p	RR	[95% CI]	t test p	RR	[95% CI]	t test p
Mean age 19–55 (follow-up age: 53–89)d
Abstainer		1.00			1.00			1.00
Current and former drinker vs. abstainer	23/134	0.92	[0.78, 1.09]	.2633	0.97	[0.83, 1.14]	.6760	1.17	[0.99, 1.38]	.0615
Former drinker vs. abstainer	4/9	1.15	[0.86, 1.53]	.3395	1.19	[0.97, 1.46]	.1007	1.45	[1.08, 1.95]	.0136
All current drinker vs. abstainer	23/125	0.88	[0.75, 1.04]	.1064	0.94	[0.80, 1.10]	.3131	1.12	[0.94, 1.33]	.1422
Occasional (<1.30 g/day)	5/10	0.99	[0.76, 1.30]	.9598	1.17	[0.99, 1.38]	.0589	1.44	[1.09, 1.89]	.0101
Low volume (1.30–24.99 g/day)	21/68	0.81	[0.73, 0.89]	.0001	0.80	[0.71, 0.89]	.0001	0.95	[0.75, 1.21]	.7013
Medium volume (25–44.99 g/day)	16/23	0.91	[0.76, 1.09]	.2895	0.88	[0.78, 0.99]	.0350	1.04	[0.81, 1.34]	.7379
High volume (45–64.99 g/day)	8/12	0.72	[0.56, 0.92]	.0090	0.90	[0.79, 1.03]	.1166	1.07	[0.83, 1.39]	.6011
Higher volume (≥65 g/day)	9/12	1.03	[0.80, 1.32]	.8195	0.98	[0.81, 1.18]	.8005	1.15	[0.86, 1.52]	.3414
Mean age 56–78 (follow-up age: 59–109)
Abstainer		1.00			1.00			1.00
Current and former drinker vs. abstainer	22/135	0.94	[0.78, 1.14]	.4413	0.89	[0.73, 1.09]	.1983	0.90	[0.74, 1.10]	.2429
Former drinker vs. abstainer	5/9	1.36	[1.05, 1.76]	.0205	1.33	[1.12, 1.58]	.0015	1.34	[1.08, 1.65]	.0078
All current drinker vs. abstainer	22/126	0.87	[0.79, 0.97]	.0239	0.82	[0.75, 0.90]	.0039	0.83	[0.75, 0.92]	.0074
Occasional (<1.30 g/day)	1/1	0.87	[0.40, 1.89]	.7228	0.78	[0.62, 0.98]	.0355	0.77	[0.60, 1.00]	.0511
Low volume (1.30–24.99 g/day)	22/61	0.78	[0.70, 0.86]	.0001	0.80	[0.74, 0.86]	.0001	0.81	[0.69, 0.95]	.0080
Medium volume (25–44.99 g/day)	19/28	0.81	[0.70, 0.94]	.0064	0.76	[0.69, 0.83]	.0001	0.77	[0.66, 0.90]	.0015
High volume (45–64.99 g/day)	13/20	0.95	[0.80, 1.12]	.5282	0.86	[0.77, 0.96]	.0093	0.88	[0.75, 1.04]	.1412
Higher volume (≥65 g/day)	10/16	0.97	[0.80, 1.18]	.7819	0.93	[0.80, 1.07]	.3025	0.95	[0.78, 1.15]	.5801

Notes: Estimates significant at the 5% level (p < .05) are bold. CI = confidence interval.

^aN = Number of studies; n = number of risk estimates.

^bWeighted estimates adjusted for between-study variation.

^cWeighted estimates adjusted for between-study variation, abstainer biases, sex of study population, alcohol measure accuracy, country, and whether studies controlled for heart problem, social status, and smoking status.

^dTwo risk estimates in the study conducted in China were included.