University of Massachusetts Medical School Faculty Publications
Title
Relationships Between Current and Past Binge Drinking and Systolic Blood Pressure in Young Adults
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
Publication Date
2016-03-01
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Cardiovascular Diseases | Substance Abuse and Addiction
Abstract
PURPOSE: Heavy episodic (i.e., "binge") drinking (i.e., >/=five drinks/occasion) is highly prevalent among young adults; those who binge do so four times per month on average, consuming nine drinks on average on each occasion. Although it is well established that chronic heavy drinking ( > /=two alcoholic beverages per day) increases the risk of hypertension, the relationship between binge drinking and blood pressure is not well described. Our aim was to describe the relationship between frequency of binge drinking, both current (at age 24 years) and past (at age 20 years), and systolic blood pressure (SBP) at age 24 years.
METHODS: Participants (n = 756) from the longitudinal Nicotine Dependence in Teens study reported alcohol consumption at ages 20 and 24 years and had SBP measured at age 24 years. We examined the association between binge drinking and SBP using multiple linear regression, controlling for sex, race/ethnicity, education, monthly drinking in high school, cigarette smoking, and body mass index.
RESULTS: Compared to nonbinge drinkers, SBP at age 24 years was 2.61 [.41, 4.82] mm Hg higher among current monthly bingers and 4.03 [1.35, 6.70] mm Hg higher among current weekly bingers. SBP at age 24 years was 2.90 [.54, 5.25] mm Hg higher among monthly bingers at age 20 years and 3.64 [.93, 6.35] mm Hg higher among weekly bingers at age 20 years, compared to nonbinge drinkers.
CONCLUSIONS: Frequent binge drinking at ages 20 and 24 years is associated with higher SBP at age 24 years and may be implicated in the development of hypertension.
Keywords
Alcohol drinking, Longitudinal studies, Systolic blood pressure, Young adult
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.10.251
Source
J Adolesc Health. 2016 Mar;58(3):352-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.10.251. Link to article on publisher's site
Related Resources
Journal/Book/Conference Title
The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine
PubMed ID
26903432
Repository Citation
Wellman, Robert J.; Vaughn, John A.; Sylvestre, Marie-Pierre; O'Loughlin, Erin K.; Dugas, Erika N.; and O'Loughlin, Jennifer, "Relationships Between Current and Past Binge Drinking and Systolic Blood Pressure in Young Adults" (2016). University of Massachusetts Medical School Faculty Publications. 1159.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/faculty_pubs/1159