
The authors evaluated the association of low-to-moderate alcohol consumption with risk of cognitive decline in a census-based cohort study of men and women aged

Participants free of dementia at baseline (N = 3,888) were examined after 2.5 and 4.5 years of follow-up. Information on alcohol intake was collected with the EURODEM Risk Factors Questionnaire and the History and Aetiology Schedule.
The study endpoint was severe cognitive decline, defined as loss of

Compared with those for abstainers, the multivariate-adjusted odds ratios for severe cognitive decline for male drinkers of >12 g alcohol/day, drinkers of 12–24 g alcohol/day, and former drinkers were 0.61 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.31, 1.20), 1.19 (95% CI: 0.61, 2.32), and 1.03 (95% CI: 0.59, 1.82), respectively.
The corresponding odds ratios for women were 0.88 (95% CI: 0.45, 1.72), 2.38 (95% CI: 0.98, 5.77), and 1.03 (95% CI: 0.48, 2.23).
This study did not support the hypothesis that low-to-moderate alcohol consumption prevents cognitive decline.
The inverse association between low-to-moderate alcohol intake and cognitive decline observed in other studies may have been due to inclusion of former drinkers in the abstainers reference category.
Read Full Abstract
Request Reprint E-Mail: elobo@unizar.es