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Saturday, February 17
PS3 Poster Session 3 and Continental Breakfast Sat, Feb 17, 8:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Salons F-I

Re-Examining Sick Quitter Hypothesis on Association of Alcohol Consumption with Coronary Heart Disease (303602)

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S. Patricia Chou, National Institute of Health  
*Amy Z. Fan, National Institute of Health 
Bridget F. Grant, National Institute of Health  
W. June Ruan, National Institute of Health  

Keywords: sick quitter effects; lifetyle behavior; life course

Sick quitter hypothesis has been believed by many researchers to be the underlying mechanism explaining the benefit of moderate drinking on cardiovascular health. However, up to date, statisticians have not been able to test this hypothesis in a convincing manner using population surveillance data. This study using data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol Related Conditions III examined association of coronary heart disease relationship with drinking patterns obtained for the past 12 months and during period of heaviest lifetime drinking. The findings demonstrated that changes in alcohol consumption patterns over life course may distort the true alcohol-cardiovascular health relationship. Studies using the similar methodology can be used to validate the sick quitter effects on many chronic health outcomes. Survey statisticians and chronic disease epidemiologists can adopt the method when they attempt to establish reciprocal causality between lifestyle behaviors and health outcomes.