Citation

Parrish KM, Dufour MC, Stinson FS, Harford TC. J. Stud. Alcohol 1993; 54(4): 450-456.

Affiliation

Department of Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8341047

Abstract

The relationship of alcohol consumption and cirrhosis mortality was examined by sampling 1% of deaths in the U.S. using the 1986 National Mortality Followback Survey. Quantity and frequency of decedent's alcohol consumption was obtained from next of kin through mailed questionnaire. The percentage of decedents with cirrhosis increased sharply with the increasing number of drinks per day. Three drinks per day was associated with a significantly higher percentage of cirrhosis deaths compared with lifetime abstainers for both whites and blacks. Although blacks had a significantly higher percentage of abstainers than whites, of those persons who were reported to drink every day, blacks were more likely to be heavier drinkers (5 or more drinks per day). Blacks did not have a higher risk of cirrhosis mortality than whites for each drinking category. Although Native Americans were oversampled, the number of deaths was too small for statistical comparisons.

Language: en