Characteristics of the study population at recruitment, according to amount and type of alcohol intake (g/day) in the EPIC study*
| Characteristics | Unit | Never drinkers | Lifetime drinkers | Total‡ | Wine consumers§ | Beer consumers‡ | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1–4.9 | 5–14.9 | 15–29.9 | 30–59.9† | >60† | ||||||
| Women | ||||||||||
| Number of participants | n | 25 146 | 112 281 | 77 147 | 27 179 | 6042 | – | 247 795 | 85 965 | 8748 |
| Person-years | – | 330 854 | 1 460 315 | 998 547 | 352 220 | 78 538 | – | 3 220 474 | 1 124 546 | 110 761 |
| Age at recruitment | Years | 52 (9) | 52 (10) | 51 (10) | 49 (11) | 47 (11) | – | 51 (38–63) | 52 (9) | 46 (12) |
| Lifetime alcohol intake | g/day | 0 (–) | 2 (2) | 9 (3) | 20 (4) | 43 (21) | – | 7 (0–17) | 12 (9) | 11 (9) |
| Educational attainment¶ | % | 14 | 22 | 27 | 33 | 37 | – | 25 | 28 | 28 |
| Current smokers | % | 13 | 14 | 18 | 24 | 31 | – | 17 | 17 | 28 |
| Body mass index | kg/m2 | 27 (5) | 25 (5) | 25 (4) | 24 (4) | 24 (4) | – | 25 (20–31) | 24 (4) | 25 (4) |
| Height | cm | 158 (6) | 161 (6) | 162 (6) | 163 (7) | 164 (6) | – | 162 (153–170) | 162 (6) | 163 (7) |
| (Moderately) active | % | 26 | 39 | 44 | 44 | 43 | – | 40 | 42 | 42 |
| Ever use of HRT** | % | 16 | 25 | 29 | 28 | 25 | – | 25 | 50 | 34 |
| Postmenopausal status†† | % | 50 | 49 | 49 | 44 | 38 | – | 48 | 29 | 20 |
| Energy intake | kcal/day | 1848 (537) | 1943 (537) | 2015 (536) | 2090 (552) | 2195 (602) | – | 1978 (542) | 2046 (544) | 1976 (545) |
| Men | ||||||||||
| Number of participants | n | 1600 | 14 287 | 28 875 | 28 049 | 20 788 | 8336 | 101 935 | 26 137 | 22 136 |
| Person-years | – | 19 114 | 171 739 | 345 899 | 333 784 | 247 612 | 98 841 | 1 216 989 | 317 937 | 259 934 |
| Age at recruitment | Years | 53 (11) | 53 (11) | 53 (9) | 52 (9) | 52 (9) | 52 (9) | 53 (41–64) | 53 (9) | 52 (10) |
| Lifetime alcohol intake | g/day | 0 (–) | 2 (2) | 10 (3) | 22 (4) | 42 (8) | 94 (45) | 25 (3–45) | 30 (27) | 22 (25) |
| Educational attainment¶ | % | 21 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 26 | 14 | 29 | 22 | 27 |
| Current smokers | % | 28 | 22 | 25 | 30 | 36 | 49 | 30 | 31 | 33 |
| Body mass index | kg/m2 | 27 (4) | 26 (4) | 26 (3) | 27 (3) | 27 (4) | 28 (4) | 27 (22–31) | 27 (4) | 27 (4) |
| Height | cm | 171 (7) | 174 (7) | 175 (7) | 175 (7) | 174 (7) | 172 (7) | 174 (165–183) | 172 (7) | 175 (7) |
| (Moderately) active | % | 42 | 46 | 50 | 52 | 52 | 50 | 50 | 48 | 52 |
| Energy intake | kcal/day | 2284 (675) | 2267 (650) | 2315 (618) | 2417 (622) | 2569 (646) | 2789 (716) | 2427 (656) | 2487 (652) | 2369 (651) |
*Means±SDs are presented for continuous variables, frequencies for categorical variables.
†In women the last alcohol category is ≥30 g/day.
‡For continuous variables (with exception of energy intake), mean (10–90th centile) values are reported.
§Study participants consuming more than 10 g/day of wine (or beer), and consuming less than 3 g/day of beer (or wine).
¶Participants with a university degree or more.
**HRT=hormonal replacement therapy.
††Postmenopausal women plus women who underwent an ovariectomy.