The Effect of Beverage Type on Ischemic Heart Disease Mortality in Russia

Abstract

It has been repeatedly emphasized that alcohol might be the most plausible explanation for both the high rate and the dramatic fluctuation in Russian ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality rate during the last decades, while other traditional risk factors identified in epidemiologic studies had little predictive value. The link between IHD mortality and beverage-specific alcohol drinking has been analyzed in a number of aggregate-level studies with conflicting results. The aim of this study was to examine the relation between the consumption of different beverage types and IHD mortality rates in Russia. Age-standardized male and female IHD mortality data for the period 1970-2005 and data on beverage-specific alcohol sales were obtained from the Russian State Statistical Committee. Time-series analytical modeling techniques (ARIMA) were used to examine the relation between the sale of different alcoholic beverages and IHD mortality rates. Overall alcohol and vodka sales were significantly associated with both male and female IHD mortality rates: a 1 liter increase in overall alcohol sales would result in a 1.4% increase in the male IHD mortality rate and in 1.2% increase in female IHD mortality rate; a 1-liter increase in vodka sales is expected to increase the IHD mortality rate by 5.5% for men and by 4% for women. The consumption of beer and wine was not associated with C VD mortality rates. The findings from this study suggest that public health efforts should focus on both reducing overall consumption and changing beverage preference from distilled spirits in order to reduce cardiovascular mortality rates in Russia.