Alcohol is the main contributing factor of alcoholic cirrhosis, but less is known about the significance of drinking pattern.
We investigated the risk of alcoholic cirrhosis among 55,917 participants (aged 50-64 years) in the Danish Cancer, Diet, and Health study (1993-2011). Baseline information on alcohol intake, drinking pattern, and confounders was obtained from a questionnaire. Follow-up information came from national registers. We calculated hazard ratios (HRs) for alcoholic cirrhosis in relation to drinking frequency, lifetime alcohol amount, and beverage type.
We observed 257 and 85 incident cases of alcoholic cirrhosis among men and women, respectively, none among lifetime abstainers. In men, HR for alcoholic cirrhosis among daily drinkers was 3.65 (95% CI: 2.39; 5.55) compared to drinking 2-4 days/week. Alcohol amount in recent age periods (40-49 and 50-59 years) was associated with an increased risk, whereas the amount in 20-29 and 30-39 years was not. In men drinking 14-28 drinks/week, HR was 7.47 (95% CI: 1.68; 33.12), 3.12 (95% CI: 1.53; 6.39), and 1.69 (95% CI: 0.79; 3.65) in drinkers of little (