Mortality and morbidity related to alcohol

Abstract

To investigate the association between level of alcohol consumption and mortality and hospital admissions, data from the Swedish twin registry were utilized. Twins born in 1925 or later responded to a questionnaire on lifestyle and personality in 1973. A total of 9057 twins were followed in the national cause of death register and in hospital discharge registers through 1992. The proportion of deaths attributable to high levels of alcohol consumption, after adjustment for confounding, was 11.3% for men and 9.4% for women. The proportion of hospital admissions attributable to high levels of alcohol consumption was 13.2% for men and 1.1% for women. For psychiatric admissions, the corresponding figures were 28.7% and 7.2% respectively. We conclude that, in this cohort of young and middle aged men and women (ages 18-67), a considerable number of productive life years are lost due to high alcohol consumption. Furthermore, a considerable proportion of health care consumption is alcohol-related, especially psychiatric care.