This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Quitting drinking benefits mental well-being
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Quitting drinking was linked to a more favorable change in mental well-being among women, close to the level of lifetime alcohol abstainers, who have the highest level of mental well-being, evidence published in Canadian Medical Association Journal showed.
“Few studies have investigated the impact of moderate drinking on health-related quality of life, and many have often relied on a single time-point measurement of alcohol consumption rather than longitudinal patterns of use,” Xiaoxin I. Yao PhD, from the University of Hong Kong School of Public Health, and colleagues wrote.
The researchers reported the longitudinal association between changes in drinking patterns across two waves (2009 to 2013) and changes in physical and mental well-being, using the Physical and Mental Component Summary of the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey, across populations.
They examined population-representative data from the population-representative FAMILY Cohort in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, then validated findings using 4-year data from a nationally representative U.S. cohort (National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions 2001-2005).
In the Chinese cohort (n = 10,386), men and women who were lifetime alcohol abstainers had the highest level of mental well-being and persistent drinkers had the highest level of physical well-being at baseline, according to the study.
Yao and colleagues found that female quitters exhibited greater improvement in mental well-being compared with lifetime abstainers (beta = 1.44; 95% CI, 0.43-2.45) and male persistent former drinkers exhibited greater improvement in mental well-being than male abstainers (beta = 2.1; 95% CI, 0.3-3.89).
Similarly, in the U.S. cohort (n = 31,079), lifetime abstainers had the highest level of mental well-being at baseline and female quitters had greater improvement in mental well-being than female lifetime abstainers (beta = 0.83; 95% CI, 0.08-1.58), Yao and colleagues found.
“Our findings ... suggest caution in recommending that moderate drinking could improve health-related quality of life. Instead, quitting drinking may be associated with a more favorable change in mental well-being, approaching the level of lifetime abstainers,” they wrote. “Further studies are needed to establish clearly the impact of alcohol use on mental and physical well-being before alcohol is recommended as part of a healthy lifestyle.” – by Savannah Demko
Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.