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Rheumatoid arthritis patients consumed less alcohol than healthy controls
Alcohol consumption was lower among patients with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis compared with healthy control participants, according to study results.
Researchers in Turkey polled 332 participants (185 men), including 74 patients (mean age, 50.8 years) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 122 patients (mean age, 38.5 years) with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and 136 healthy controls (mean age, 42.8 years) regarding their alcohol habits. Participants who consumed alcohol completed the Turkish version of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), with scores of 0-4 indicating “problem-free drinkers,” 5-9 “probable alcohol abusers,” and 10 or more “probable alcoholics.”
One hundred twenty-four participants (75.8% men; P<.0001) were designated as “alcohol consumers” if they answered yes to having ever consumed alcohol in their lives. Alcohol consumers had a slightly younger mean age compared with those who did not drink (41.3 years vs. 44 years; P=.0045). Across the entire cohort, 50.8% of men and 20.4% of women (P<.001) drank alcohol. The alcohol consumption rate was 23.0% for patients with RA, 36.9% for patients with AS and 45.6% for controls. The AS and RA groups had mean MAST scores of 3.02 (95% CI, 2.36-3.69) and 3.13 (95% CI, 1.76-4.5), respectively, compared with a mean MAST score of 4.94 (95% CI, 4.14-5.73) for controls. MAST scores analysis indicated that controls had the most probable alcohol abusers (70.5%) or probable alcoholics (80%).
“These findings should be interpreted with caution because many of the drugs used for treatment of rheumatic diseases are potentially hepatotoxic,” the researchers concluded. “Our results need to be verified by further studies, and these should be designed … to explore the other possible factors which may determine alcohol consumption properties and their consequences on the health status of patients.”