ArticleJAMA2008
Alcohol consumption and risk of incident atrial fibrillation in women.
Article in JAMA, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 78 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
78 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 192 citations in OpenAlex.
- Alcohol consumption and risk of atrial fibrillation: a pairwise and network meta-analysis.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2026Pooled it
- Alcohol consumption and atrial fibrillation risk: An updated dose-response meta-analysis of over 10 million participants.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Alcohol Consumption and Risk of Atrial Fibrillation: A Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of alcohol on blood pressure.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Are cardiovascular risk factors also associated with the incidence of atrial fibrillation? A systematic review and field synopsis of 23 factors in 32 population-based cohorts of 20 million participants.Thrombosis and haemostasis · 2017Pooled it
- European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA)/European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (EACPR) position paper on how to prevent atrial fibrillation endorsed by the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) and Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society (APHRS).Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2017Guideline
- European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA)/European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (EACPR) position paper on how to prevent atrial fibrillation endorsed by the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) and Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society (APHRS).European journal of preventive cardiology · 2017Guideline
- Executive Summary of the II Brazilian Guidelines for Atrial Fibrillation.Arquivos brasileiros de cardiologia · 2016Guideline
- Guideline
- Alcohol consumption as a risk factor for atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation : official journal of the European Society of Cardiology, Working Groups on Epidemiology & Prevention and Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology · 2010Pooled it
- Benefits and Risks of Moderate Alcohol Consumption on Cardiovascular Disease: Current Findings and Controversies.Nutrients · 2019Trial
- Relationship Between Psychosocial Stressors and Atrial Fibrillation in Women >45 Years of Age.The American journal of cardiology · 2018Trial
- Risk factors for incident atrial fibrillation with and without left atrial enlargement in women.International journal of cardiology · 2013Trial
- Caffeine consumption and incident atrial fibrillation in women.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2010Trial
- Trial
- Modifiable Lifestyle Factors, Left Atrial Indices, and Atrial Fibrillation.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2026Article
- Modifiable Risk Factors in Atrial Fibrillation: Clinical Implications and Pathophysiological Insights.Annals of noninvasive electrocardiology : the official journal of the International Society for Holter and Noninvasive Electrocardiology, Inc · 2026Review
- Life course adversity and risk of incident atrial fibrillation: causal mediation analysis of psychological distress in the population-based Tromsø Study.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Alcohol Misuse in Older Women: A Scoping Review of Correlates, Consequences, Treatment, and Prevention.Alcohol research : current reviews · 2026Article
- Alcohol Intake and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: RE-LY AF Registry Analysis.Annals of noninvasive electrocardiology : the official journal of the International Society for Holter and Noninvasive Electrocardiology, Inc · 2025Article
18 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
contextPrevious studies suggest that consuming moderate to high amounts of alcohol on a regular basis might increase the risk of developing atrial fibrillation in men but not in women. However, these studies were not powered to investigate the association of alcohol consumption and atrial fibrillation among women.
objectiveTo prospectively assess the association between regular alcohol consumption and incident atrial fibrillation among women. DESIGN, SETTING, AND
participantsParticipants were 34 715 initially healthy women participating in the Women's Health Study, a completed randomized controlled trial conducted in the United States. Participants were older than 45 years and free of atrial fibrillation at baseline and underwent prospective follow-up from 1993 to October 31, 2006. Alcohol consumption was assessed via questionnaires at baseline and at 48 months of follow-up and was grouped into 4 categories (0, > 0 and < 1, > or = 1 and < 2, and > or = 2 drinks per day). Atrial fibrillation was self-reported on the yearly questionnaires and subsequently confirmed by electrocardiogram and medical record review.
main outcome measureTime to first episode of atrial fibrillation.
resultsOver a median follow-up of 12.4 years, 653 cases of incident atrial fibrillation were confirmed. Age-adjusted incidences among women consuming 0 (n = 15,370), more than 0 and less than 1 (n = 15,758), 1 or more and less than 2 (n = 2228), and 2 or more (n = 1359) drinks per day were 1.59, 1.55, 1.27, and 2.25 events/1000 person-years of follow-up. Thus, compared with nondrinking women, women consuming 2 or more drinks per day had an absolute risk increase of 0.66 events/1000 person-years. The corresponding multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for incident atrial fibrillation were 1, 1.05 (95% CI, 0.88-1.25), 0.84 (95% CI, 0.58-1.22), and 1.60 (95% CI, 1.13-2.25), respectively. The increased hazard in the small group of women consuming 2 or more drinks per day persisted when alcohol intake was updated at 48 months (HR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.05-2.11) or when women were censored at their first cardiovascular event (HR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.18-2.39).
conclusionsAmong healthy middle-aged women, consumption of up to 2 alcoholic beverages per day was not associated with an increased risk of incident atrial fibrillation. Heavier consumption of 2 or more drinks per day, however, was associated with a small but statistically significant increased risk of atrial fibrillation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.