Poor people more likely to have health issues from heavy drinking

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

Heavy drinkers from poor families are more likely to develop health problems as a result of boozing, warns new research.

People with low income or education levels may benefit from screening for alcohol-related conditions, say scientists who conducted the study.

They found that men and women with lower income or education levels are more likely to develop medical conditions related to alcohol abuse compared to similar people from wealthier backgrounds.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that alcohol abuse accounts for 5.1 percent of the global burden of disease and injury worldwide, and results in three million deaths each year.

Previous studies have identified links between a person’s socioeconomic status and alcohol use.

However, it has been unclear how a person's social class impacts their future risk of acquiring booze-related medical conditions, such as alcoholic liver disease.

Associate Professor Alexis Edwards, of Virginia Commonwealth University, and her colleagues used a model that follows people over time to estimate their risk of developing medical conditions from alcohol abuse using two indicators for socio-economic status: income and education level.

The team analyzed data from more than 2.3 million people in a Swedish database to show that both men and women with a lower income or education level were more likely to develop the conditions.

The associations held true, even when researchers controlled for other relevant factors, such as marital status, history of psychiatric illness and having a genetic predisposition to abuse alcohol.

Dr. Edwards says the new findings, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, are important for understanding which people are most likely to suffer from medical conditions resulting from alcohol abuse.

She said the study also contributes to a growing body of literature on health disparities that stem from socioeconomic factors.

Dr. Edwards said: “Among individuals with an alcohol use disorder, those with lower levels of education or lower incomes are at higher risk for developing an alcohol-related medical condition, such as cirrhosis or alcoholic cardiomyopathy."

The research team recommends that people with lower income or education levels might warrant additional screening by doctors to evaluate their alcohol consumption and identify related conditions.

Dr. Edwards added: "Additional screening and prevention efforts may be warranted to reduce health disparities.”