More than Light Alcohol Consumption Predicts Early Cessation from Employment in French Middle-Aged Men

To investigate the association between alcohol consumption and different causes of work cessation and estimate the loss of occupational activity among high consumers compared with low consumers.

From the prospective study of men employed in the French gas and electric company, 8442 men during a median follow-up of 8.4 years reported on their alcohol consumption. Information on work cessation was collected from the company administrative records. Hazard Ratios (HRs) by cause of work cessation (death, disability, retirement before or after age 55) were estimated using a competing risk method.

An increasing quantity of daily alcohol consumption was associated with an increased risk of death, disability and retirement before age 55 (P trend ≤ 0.01, = 0.03 and ≤ 0.01, respectively), but not of retirement after age 55 (P trend = 0.56). Moreover, compared with low consumption, moderate, high or very high daily intakes were associated with an increased risk of early work cessation (combination of the three causes: death, disability and retirement before age 55) (HR = 1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.05-1.25; HR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.12-1.35 and HR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.15-1.92 respectively). Between ages 50 and 60, we estimated that high or very high consumers could gain 6.04 months of occupational activity if they drank like low consumers.

Our results provide evidence of a dose-effect relationship between alcohol consumption and early work cessation.