Alcohol intake, specific alcoholic beverages, and risk of hip fractures in postmenopausal women and men age 50 and older

A team of researchers prospectively assessed total alcohol and specific alcoholic beverage consumption and risk of hip fractures in US men and women. Health, lifestyle information, and hip fractures were self-reported on biennial questionnaires between 1980 and 2014 in 75,180 postmenopausal women from the Nurses’ Health Study, and between 1986 and 2014 in 38,398 men aged ≥50 y from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Diet was assessed approximately every 4 y with a semiquantitative Food frequency questionnaire.
There were 2,360 incident low trauma hip fractures in women and 709 in men. Among women, RRs for low trauma hip fractures compared with nondrinkers were 0.89 (95% CI: 0.80, 0.99) for an
average daily consumption of <5.0 g, 0.81 (95%
CI: 0.70, 0.94) for 5.0 to <10.0 g, 0.83 (95% CI: 0.71,
0.96) for 10.0 to <20.0 g, and 0.93 (95% CI: 0.78,
1.10) for ≥20.0 g. Among men, risk declined linearly
with higher alcohol consumption. Multivariable RR compared with nondrinkers was 0.77 (95% CI: 0.59, 1.01), 0.69 (0.49, 0.96), and 0.67 (0.48, 0.95)
for an average intake of 10 g/d to <20 g/d, 20 g/d to <30 g/d, and 30.0 g/d or more, respectively. In women, the alcoholic beverage most significantly associated with hip fracture risk was red wine (RR per serving = 0.59; 95% CI: 0.45, 0.79). In men, there was no clear association with specific alcoholic beverages.
In these 2 US cohorts, low to moderate alcohol consumption, when compared with no consumption, was associated with a lower risk of hip fractures, particularly with red wine consumption among women.
Source: Alcohol intake, specific alcoholic beverages, and risk of hip fractures in postmenopausal women and men age 50 and older. Teresa T Fung, Kenneth J Mukamal, Eric B Rimm, Haakon E Meyer, Walter C Willett, Diane Feskanich. The American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, nqz135