Self-reported alcohol intake is a better estimate of 5-year change in blood pressure than biochemical markers in low resource settings: the PURE study
Loading...
Date
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wolters Kluwer
Abstract
Background: Despite criticism of self-reported alcohol intake, it is a valuable tool to screen for alcohol abuse as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. We aimed to compare various self-reported estimates of alcohol use with γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) and percentage carbohydrate deficient transferrin (%CDT) considering their relationship with blood pressure changes (%BP) over a 5-year period in black South Africans.
Method: We recruited 1994 participants and collected 5-year followed up data (N = 1246). Participants completed questionnaires on alcohol intake indicating their former and current alcohol use (‘yes’ response and ‘no’ if alcohol was never used). We assessed alcohol intake (in g) using a quantified food frequency questionnaire. We collected blood samples and measured GGT and %CDT. Brachial BP (bBP) was measured at baseline and follow-up and central BP (cBP) at follow-up only.
Results: Self-reported alcohol intake was significantly associated with the 5-year change in bBP before and after adjusting for confounders (%bSBP: R$^2$ = 0.263, β = 0.06, P = 0.023; %bDBP: R$^2$ = 0.326, β = 0.08 P = 0.005), as well as cSBP (R$^2$ = 0.286, β = 0.09, P = 0.010) and central pulse pressure (R2 = 0.254, β = 0.06, P = 0.020). GGT and %CDT correlated well with self-reported alcohol intake (r = 0.44; P = 0.001; r = 0.34 P = 0.001), but did not associate significantly with %bBP or cBP at follow-up.
Conclusion: Self-reported alcohol use was strongly associated with a 5-year increase in BP in Africans with a low socio-economic status. This was not found for biochemical measures, GGT and %CDT. Self-reported alcohol intake could be an important measure to implement in primary healthcare settings in middle to low income countries, where honest reporting is expected.
Description
Citation
Zatu, M.C. et al. 2014. Self-reported alcohol intake is a better estimate of 5-year change in blood pressure than biochemical markers in low resource settings: the PURE study. Journal of hypertension, 32(4):749-755. [https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000000093]