In a cohort study that included more than 500,000 US adults, Yachen Zhu, PhD, and colleagues explored the interaction between socioeconomic status (SES) and alcohol use on ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality. Findings revealed a stronger protective effect of light-to-moderate drinking against IHD mortality in the high-SES group, regardless of sex, even after adjusting for key covariates and behavioral risk factors. Conversely, chronic heavy drinking was more harmful in men with low SES, although this association was largely explained by other behavioral risk factors. Notably, the protective association of moderate alcohol consumption was particularly pronounced among those with less than monthly heavy episodic drinking and in women of high SES compared with middle SES. These results emphasize the importance of considering SES in public health interventions targeting alcohol use and suggest that what is considered safe alcohol consumption for preventing IHD may vary across different sociodemographic groups.
