Beverage preference and risk of alcohol-use disorders: A Danish prospective cohort study

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine whether preferred type of alcoholic beverage influences the later risk of alcohol-use disorders (AUD). Method: A prospective cohort study was used, comprising three updated measures of alcohol intake and covariates, and 26 years of follow-up data on 18, 146 individuals from the Copenhagen City Heart Study, Denmark. The study population was linked to three different registers to detect AUD registrations. Results: For both genders, wine drinking was associated with lower risk of AUD irrespective of the weekly amount of alcohol consumed. Women drinking 15-21 drinks per week of only beer and distilled spirits had a risk of 15.8 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.8-33.3) for AUD, whereas those whose total alcohol intake comprised more than 35% wine had a risk of 2.0 (CI: 0.7-5.2). Men drinking 15-21 drinks per week of only beer and distilled spirits had a risk of 3.1 (CI: 1.8-5.4), whereas those whose total alcohol intake comprised more than 35% wine had a risk of 0.8 (CI: 0.3-2.1). Consuming more than 35% beer increased the risk of AUD for women, whereas the percentage of distilled spirits intake did not influence the risk of AUD for either women or men. Conclusions: Individuals who include wine when they drink alcohol have lower risks of AUD, independent of the total amount of alcohol consumed. The most likely explanation of these results is that lifestyle factors and personal characteristics are associated with beverage preference.