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Comparative performance of biomarkers of alcohol consumption in a population sample of working‐aged men in R ussia: the I zhevsk F amily S tudy
Author(s) -
McDonald Helen,
Borinskya Svetlana,
Kiryanov Nikolay,
Gil Artyom,
Helander Anders,
Leon David A.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0965-2140
DOI - 10.1111/add.12251
Subject(s) - population , medicine , biomarker , alcohol , environmental health , physiology , biology , biochemistry
Aims To assess the performance of a range of biomarkers of alcohol consumption in a heavy‐drinking population of working‐aged R ussian men. Design Cross‐sectional study of men originally sampled at random from a population register. Setting I zhevsk, a R ussian city with a population of 650 000 people. Participants A total of 1023 men aged 27–59 years living in I zhevsk who took part in a health check examination in 2008–2009. Measurements Self‐reported alcohol consumption, hazardous drinking behaviours, socio‐economic position, anthropometric measurements plus blood levels of alcohol biomarkers [carbohydrate‐deficient transferrin ( CDT , gamma‐glutamyl transferase (GGT) , alanine aminotransferase ( ALT) , aspartate aminotransferase ( AST) and mean cell volume of erythrocytes ( MCV )] and hepatitis B and C status. Findings I n the year before interview there was a high prevalence of high‐risk alcohol consumption indicated by consumption of non‐beverage alcohols (5%), problem drinking behaviours (4.4%) and alcohol consumption exceeding an average 40 g per day (12.6%). All biomarkers were associated strongly with total beverage alcohol consumption even after adjustment for confounders. CDT performed best as an alcohol biomarker, with a sensitivity of 67% and specificity of 71% for detecting an average consumption of more than 40 g per day versus less. For all biomarkers sensitivity was considerably lower than specificity. Hazardous drinking patterns per se were not well detected by any of the biomarkers, all with sensitivity below 60%. Conclusions I n a R ussian population with high levels of alcohol consumption, carbohydrate‐deficient transferrin ( CDT ) might be the most sensitive and specific biomarker for detecting ethanol consumption above 40 g/day. A biomarker reflecting hazardous drinking patterns has yet to be established.