Sex differences in impacts of alcohol consumption on prevalent atrial fibrillation

High levels of alcohol intake are a well-established risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF). It remains uncertain whether alcohol consumption should be regulated differently between sexes to prevent AF. Sex differences in alcohol-related AF risk were examined in a study published in the Journal of Arrhythmia.
Among 224,759 admissions in the Inpatient Clinico-Occupational Database of the Rosai Hospital Group (ICOD-R) from 32 hospitals across Japan in 2021, 123,852 participants were included. Using this cross-sectional dataset, associations between prevalent AF and alcohol consumption data, including drinking frequency, daily average drinks, and lifetime total alcohol intake, were examined in women and men.
3.7% of women had prevalent AF. Frequent drinking (≥ 4 days/week), high daily intake (≥ 2 drinks/day), and high lifetime consumption (≥ 65 drink-years) were associated with increased prevalence of AF in both sexes. In men, low daily intake (< 2 drinks/day) (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.09-1.34) and low lifetime consumption (< 65 drink-years) (OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.10-1.36) were linked to prevalent AF, but this was not observed in women. Significant sex interactions were found in the relationship between alcohol intake and prevalent AF (drinking frequency and lifetime total intake).This large-scale study did not find that men had a lower risk of prevalent AF at lower levels of alcohol consumption compared to women. The more lenient alcohol consumption limits currently applied to men, relative to women, may warrant reconsideration, the researchers suggest.
Source: Matsunaga-Lee Y, Egami Y, Sugino A, Kobayashi N, Abe M, Nohara H, Kawanami S, Yasumoto K, Okamoto N, Yano M, & Nishino M. (2025) Sex differences in impacts of alcohol consumption on prevalent atrial fibrillation. Journal of Arrhythmias, 41(4):e70169.