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(Hypertension. 2001;38:1361.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.

Scientific Contributions

Different Alcohol Drinking and Blood Pressure Relationships in France and Northern Ireland

The PRIME Study

Pedro Marques-Vidal; Dominique Arveiler; Alun Evans; Philippe Amouyel; Jean Ferrières; Pierre Ducimetière

From INSERM U558, Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Toulouse (P. M-V., J.F.), France; MONICA-Strasbourg, Laboratoire d’Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique (D.A.), Strasbourg, France; Belfast-MONICA, Department of Epidemiology, The Queen’s University of Belfast (A.E.), Belfast, United Kingdom; INSERM U508, Institut Pasteur de Lille (P.A.), Lille, France; and INSERM U258, Hôpital Paul Brousse (P.D.), Villejuif, France.

Reprint requests to Jean Ferrières, INSERM U558, Faculté de Médecine Toulouse-Purpan, Département d’Epidémiologie, 37, Allées Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse Cedex, France.

To assess the effect of alcoholic beverages consumed on blood pressure levels by day of the week, baseline data from the Prospective Epidemiological Study of Myocardial Infarction (PRIME), including 6523 male subjects who drank at least once a week (5156 in France and 1367 in Northern Ireland), were analyzed. In France, alcohol consumption was rather homogeneous throughout the week, with a slight increase during weekends, whereas in Northern Ireland, Fridays and Saturdays accounted for 66% of total alcohol consumption. After adjustment for age, body mass index, heart rate, tobacco smoking, educational level, marital status, and professional activity, blood pressure levels were higher in Northern Irish drinkers on Monday and decreased until Thursday, whereas blood pressure levels were constant throughout the week for French drinkers (dayxcountry interactions, P<0.05). Conversely, no between-day differences were found regarding teetotalers in both countries. In drinkers, between-day differences and dayxcountry interactions were suppressed after adjustment for the average alcohol consumption of the third day before measurement. We conclude that the binge-drinking pattern observed among Northern Irish drinkers leads to physiologically disadvantageous consequences regarding blood pressure levels, whereas no such fluctuations in blood pressure levels are found for regular consumption.

Key Words: alcohol drinking • blood pressure • periodicity