Background: Alcohol consumption has been reported to be associated with the risk of diabetes. However, few studies have examined alcohol consumption as a risk factor for pre-diabetes in Asian populations.
Material and method: This study is an analytical cross-sectional study aimed at determining the relationship between alcoholic consumption and pre-diabetes. This study used data on 383,442 men and women participating in the Health Checks Ubon Ratchathani (HCUR) project in 2007. Pre-diabetes was defined as a fasting blood glucose of > 100-125 mg%. Data on alcohol consumption was questioned and categorized into six groups: never, occasionally, 1-2 times/month, 1-2 times/week, 3-4 times/week and every day. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to estimate the association between self-reported alcohol consumption and pre-diabetes.
Results: The prevalence of pre-diabetes was 10.5% (11.2% and 9.7% in men and women, respectively). After adjusting for other risk factors, alcohol consumption was independently associated with pre-diabetes, with dose response relationship (adjusted odds ratio (OR(adj) of 1.80, 95% CI 1.53-2.11, p < 0.001 and 1.47, 95% CI 1.28-1.68, p < 0.001) for those who drank every day and 3-4 times a week, as compared to no consumption), but who drank 1-2 times/month is decreased risk of prediabetes (OR(adj) = 0.89, 95% CI, 0.82-0.97, p = 0.006). Similar findings were observed for men. Women who drank occasionally had a significantly decreased risk of pre-diabetes, compared with non-drinker in women (OR(adj) 0.95, 95% CI 0.91-0.99, p = 0.039). There was no interaction between alcohol consumption with other potential covariates.
Conclusion: Alcohol consumption was independently associated with the risk of pre-diabetes in a possibly dose response fashion. Mild-moderate alcohol consumption appeared to be related with a decreased risk.