Association between Moderate Alcohol Consumption and Subjective Quality of Life in Spanish Young Adults

For the last 25 years, the debate on the benefit-risk balance of moderate alcohol consumption has been ongoing. This study explored the relationships between the pattern of alcohol consumption and subjective quality of life in healthy adults.

Participants were 247 healthy adults aged 25-45 years, with a moderate alcohol consumption, classified in three groups of alcohol intake: None (N = 37; <0.7 g/day), Low (N = 87; 0.7-<5 g/day) and Medium (N = 123; 5-16 g/day in women and 5-28 g/day in men). Information was collected with questionnaires including: alcoholic beverage frequency and pattern, quality of life (SF-36v2), anxiety, depression, health condition, adherence to the Mediterranean diet, physical activity and sleep time.

Mean (SD) age of participants was 35.9 (6.3). In the Medium group, the mean alcohol intake was 10.98 ± 4.84 g/day on weekly bases and 24.7 ± 15.2 g/day on weekend days. Beer was the main contributor to total daily alcohol consumption. The percentage of subjects in the Medium group that showed a weekend average intake higher than moderate was 58.5% in exclusively weekend consumers and 48.2% in those who are not exclusive-weekend consumers (p = 0.278). Regarding markers of quality of life and mental health, the results did not show any significant association with alcohol consumption. In conclusion, in subjects that show weekly bases moderate intake of alcohol, weekend-day consumption levels can be high; however, no association of an overall moderate alcohol consumption pattern with quality of life was found.