Association between alcohol intake and subjective health: the Sotetsu Study

Alcohol Drinking in University Students Matters for Their Self-Rated Health Status: A Cross-sectional Study in Three European Countries

Background

Alcohol drinking was linked to self-rated health in different populations, but the observed association was inconsistent. We studied the association among university students across three European countries with different patterns of drinking.

Methods

We analyzed data from three universities, one from each country: Germany (beer dominant), Bulgaria (wine dominant), and Poland (unclassified among youths, spirits dominant in adults) (N = 2103). Frequency of drinking and problem drinking (≥2 positive responses on CAGE-scale), on the one side, and self-rated health, caring for one’s own health, and worsening of health since the last year, on the other side, were assessed by means of self-administered questionnaire. The association between alcohol- (independent) and health-related (dependent) variables was evaluated by means of logistic regression, adjusting for country and sex.

Results

Poor self-rated health and worsened health since previous year were associated with problem drinking {odds ratio 1.82 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.21–2.73] and 1.61 (95% CI 1.17–2.21), respectively}, but not with a higher frequency of drinking. In contrast, not caring for one’s own health was associated with frequent drinking [1.40 (95% CI 1.10–1.78)], but not with problem drinking [1.25 (95% CI 0.95–1.63)]. The results were consistent across the studied countries and for both sexes.

Conclusion

The health status of university students was associated with problem drinking. A high frequency of drinking was associated with the lack of care of own health, but it was not associated with current health status. These associations were independent of the predominant pattern of drinking across the studied countries.

Gender, ethnicity, health behaviour & self-rated health in Singapore

Background

Self-rated health and the factors that influence it have never been described in Singapore before. This paper presents a descriptive study of self-rated health in a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of 6236 persons.

Methods

As part of the National Health Surveillance Survey 2001, 6236 subjects aged 18 years and above were interviewed in the homes of participants by trained interviewers. The subjects were asked "In general, how would you rate your health today?", and given 5 possible responses. These were then categorized as "Good" (very good and good) and "Poor" (moderate, bad and very bad) self-rated health. The association of socio-economic and health behaviour risk factors with good self-rated health was studied using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis.

Results

Univariate analyses suggest that gender, ethnicity, marital status, education, household income, age, self-reported doctor-diagnosed illnesses, alcohol intake, exercise and BMI are all associated with poor self-rated health. In multivariate regression analyses, gender, ethnicity, household income, age, self-reported illness and current smoking and BMI were associated with poor self-rated health. There are gender differences in the association of various factors such as household income, smoking and BMI to self-rated health.

Conclusion

Socioeconomic factors and health behaviours are significantly associated with self-rated health, and gender differences are striking. We discuss why these factors may impact self-rated health and why gender differences may have been observed, propose directions for further research and comment on the public policy implications of our findings.

A Cross‐sectional Study of Alcohol Drinking and Health‐related Quality of Life among Male Workers in Japan

BACKGROUND

Although light and moderate alcohol drinkers are likely to have better subjective health, the sub-scales for subjective health have not been well documented.

METHODS

We studied 4,521 male workers aged 25 yr and older with no history of cancer or cardiovascular disease, in 12 occupational groups in Japan. Data were from the High-risk and Population Strategy for Occupational Health Promotion Study (HIPOP-OHP). Drinking status was classified according to daily alcohol intake or frequency of drinking. We assessed the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) based on scores for five scales of the SF-36.

RESULTS

Decreased odds ratios of sub-optimal HRQOL conditions, defined as less than the median SF-36 scores, for Role-Physical and General Health were found among persons who consumed 1.0 to 22.9 g/d of alcohol. Odds ratios for sub-optimal Vitality conditions were lowered according to increased levels of alcohol intake. Role-Emotional scores were not associated with alcohol drinking. People who drank 5 to 6 d/wk had higher levels of Role-Physical and Vitality, and those who drank 1 to 2 d/wk had better Vitality and Mental Health scores than non-drinkers. When adjusted for age, marital status, working hours, physical activity at work, self-reported job stress, smoking, regular exercise, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes, the associations were almost unchanged except for General Health.

CONCLUSIONS

Associations of drinking patterns with subjective health varied in five sub-scales of the SF-36. Overall, alcohol drinkers rated their health as good in comparison with non-drinkers.