High alcohol consumption in middle-aged adults is associated with poorer cognitive performance only in the low socio-economic group. Results from the GAZEL cohort study: SEP, alcohol and cognition
Open accessAbstract
AIMS: To examine the association of alcohol consumption over 10 years with cognitive performance in different socio-economic groups. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study, the French GAZEL study. SETTING: France. PARTICIPANTS: Employees of France's national electricity and gas company. MEASUREMENTS: Alcohol intake was assessed annually, beginning in 1992, using questions on frequency and quantity of alcoholic beverages consumed in a week; used to define mean consumption and trajectory of alcohol intake over 10 years. Cognitive performance among participants aged ≥ 55 years (n = 4073) was assessed in 2002-04 using the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), a measure of psychomotor speed, attention and reasoning. Occupational position at age 35 and education were used as the markers of socio-economic position. FINDINGS: All analyses were stratified by socio-economic position. In the low occupational group, participants consuming a mean of more than 21 drinks per week had 2.1 points lower (95% CI: -3.9, -0.3) DSST score compared to those consuming four to 14 drinks per week. In participants with primary school education, the corresponding difference was 3.6 points (95% CI: -7.1, -0.0). No association between alcohol consumption and cognitive performance was observed in the intermediate and high socio-economic groups, defined using either occupation or education. Analysis of trajectories of alcohol consumption showed that in the low socio-economic groups large increase or decrease in alcohol consumption was associated with lower cognitive scores compared to stable consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that high alcohol consumption is associated with poorer cognitive performance only in the low socio-economic group, due possibly to greater cognitive reserve in the higher socio-economic groups.
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The remaining 3 cross-sectional studies either found a U-shaped or J-shaped association in a sub-group, failed to detect any association, or detected one not in line with the hypothesis (alcohol use generally poor cognitive outcomes).
“The remaining 3 studies either found this U-shaped or J-shaped association in a sub-group [107], and either failed to detect any association [112] or detected one that was not in line with the hypothesis, whereby alcohol use was generally found to result in poor cognitive outcomes [130].”
From Epidemiologic studies of modifiable factors associated with cognition and dementia: systematic review and meta-analysis (2014) · cites this paper as [130]
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Visual memory and alcohol use in a middle-aged birth cohort
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Additional file 2 of Visual memory and alcohol use in a middle-aged birth cohort
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Additional file 1 of Visual memory and alcohol use in a middle-aged birth cohort
Mazumder, A. H., Barnett, J. H., Halt, A.-H., Taivalantti, M., Kerkelä, M., Järvelin, M., & Veijola, J. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26692903
- Authors
- Sabia, S., Guéguen, A., Berr, C., Berkman, L., Ankri, J., Goldberg, M., Zins, M., & Singh-Manoux, A.
- Affiliations
- Centre de recherche en Epidémiologie et Santé des Populations (FR)
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montpellier (FR)
- Harvard University (US)
- Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (FR)
- Venue
- Addiction
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-09-15
- Volume
- 106
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 93-101
- ISSN
- 0965-2140 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3006084
- OpenAlex
- W2138325852
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 6 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 1.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Addiction (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG034454, R01AG013196)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Keywords
- alcohol consumption, cognitive performance, socioeconomic status, middle-aged adults, cognitive reserve, occupational position, educational attainment, Digit Symbol Substitution Test, psychomotor speed, GAZEL cohort
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Age Factors, Alcohol Drinking, Alcoholic Beverages, Cognition Disorders, Female, France, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Psychomotor Performance, Socioeconomic Factors, Cohort Studies, Effect Modifier, Epidemiologic
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