Research had long reported that moderate drinking improves quality of life. People who drink in moderation tend to have higher quality of life scores. That’s compared to abstainers. But which comes first? Does moderate drinking cause higher quality of life? Or does higher quality of life lead to moderate drinking?

That’s the question researchers studied. Their data came from the Nurses’ Health Study II. It has good and repeated measures of both drinking and quality of life. Both physical and mental aspects of quality of life were measured.

Subjects in the Nurses’ Study were examined repeatedly for the effects of drinking on later quality of life. The same was true for the effects of given measure of quality of life on later drinking.

The major finding was that alcohol drinking is positively linked with later physical quality of life among women. The poorest later life quality was found among both non-drinkers and former drinkers. But good quality of life also promoted drinking.

So, drinking improves quality of life. This is consistent with earlier research by others. That research found that male non-drinkers who began to drink enjoyed greater health.

There was little relation between alcohol and mental aspects of life quality.

Drinking Improves Quality of Life

Web

• • Alcohol and Women’s Health.
  • Alcohol and Health.

Readings

• • Byles, J., et al. A drink to healthy aging. The association between older women’s use of alcohol and their health-related quality of life.  J Am Geriat Soc.,  54(9),  1341-47.
  • Chana, A., et al.  Regular alcohol consumption is associated with increasing quality of life. Maturitas, 62(3),  294-300.
  • Saarni, S., et al. Alcohol consumption, abstaining, health utility, and quality of life. Alco Alco, 43(3), 376-86.
  • Testa, M. and Simonson, D. Assessment of quality-of-life outcomes. N Engl J Med, 334, 835-40.
  • Van Dijk, P., et al.  The relationship between health-related quality of life and alcohol consumption. J Stud Alco., 65(2), 241-9.

Source

• • Schrieks I., et al. Bidirectional associations between alcohol consumption and health-related quality of life. J Intern Med.