SynthesisSystematic reviews2020
Long-term effects of alcohol consumption on cognitive function: a systematic review and dose-response analysis of evidence published between 2007 and 2018.
Synthesis in Systematic reviews, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 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
26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- Social cognition in Korsakoff's syndrome: A meta-analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Pooled it
- PRISMA 2020 explanation and elaboration: updated guidance and exemplars for reporting systematic reviews.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2021Guideline
- Effects of Binge Drinking and Alcohol Withdrawal on Serum Neurofilament Levels.Addiction biology · 2026Trial
- Cognitive Impairment and Long-Term Cognitive Trajectories in Relation to Incident Sarcopenia.Annals of geriatric medicine and research · 2026Article
- Causal Covariate Selection for the Regression Calibration Method for Exposure Measurement Error Bias Correction.Statistics in medicine · 2026Article
- Dementia, cognitive impairment in Nigerians aged 90 years or older: A 20-year follow up of survivors of Ibadan study of aging cohort.International psychogeriatrics · 2026Article
- Prevalence and associated factors of cognitive impairment among hospitalized older adults with depression: a cross-sectional study from a tertiary psychiatric hospital in Guangzhou, China.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- The association between sports social capital and cognitive health: A longitudinal study of middle-aged and elderly adults in China.SSM - population health · 2025Article
- Trends and cross-country inequalities of alcohol use disorders: findings from the global burden of disease study 2021.Globalization and health · 2025Article
- Ethanol-Induced Depression: Exploring the Underlying Molecular Mechanisms.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2025Review
- Article
- Development and validation of a Disorganised Thoughts Scale: a new measure to assess thinking difficulties in the general population.BMC psychology · 2024Article
- Causal Selection of Covariates in Regression Calibration for Mismeasured Continuous Exposure.Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2024Article
- Hormone replacement therapy, menopausal age and lifestyle variables are associated with better cognitive performance at follow-up but not cognition over time in older-adult women irrespective of APOE4 carrier status and co-morbidities.Frontiers in dementia · 2024Article
- Cognitive Alterations Associated with Remission and Alcohol Dependence Severity in Ethnically Diverse Patients of Siberia.Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH · 2024Article
- A nonlinear relationship between alcohol consumption and cognitive function in elderly people: a population-based study from NHANES 2011-2014.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2024Article
- Assessing the Biological Mechanisms Linking Smoking Behavior and Cognitive Function: A Mediation Analysis of Untargeted Metabolomics.Metabolites · 2023Article
- Global rural health disparities in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: State of the science.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2023Review
- Exploratory dietary patterns and cognitive function in the "Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra" (SUN) Prospective Cohort.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2022Article
- The Effect of Chronic Alcohol on Cognitive Decline: Do Variations in Methodology Impact Study Outcome? An Overview of Research From the Past 5 Years.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUnderstanding the long-term health effects of low to moderate alcohol consumption is important for establishing thresholds for minimising the lifetime risk of harm. Recent research has elucidated the dose-response relationship between alcohol and cardiovascular outcomes, showing an increased risk of harm at levels of intake previously thought to be protective. The primary objective of this review was to examine (1) whether there is a dose-response relationship between levels of alcohol consumption and long-term cognitive effects, and (2) what the effects are of different levels of consumption.
methodsThe review was conducted according to a pre-specified protocol. Eligible studies were those published 2007 onwards that compared cognitive function among people with different levels of alcohol consumption (measured ≥ 6 months prior to first follow-up of cognition). Major cognitive impairment was excluded. Searches were limited to MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO (January 2007 to April 2018). Screening, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment (ROBINS-I) were piloted by three authors, then completed by a single author and checked by a second. Analyses were undertaken to identify and characterise dose-response relationships between levels of alcohol consumption and cognition. Certainty of evidence was assessed using GRADE.
resultsWe included 27 cohort studies (from 4786 citations). Eighteen studies examined the effects of alcohol consumption at different levels (risk of bias 16 serious, 2 critical). Ten studies provided data for dose-response analysis. The pooled dose-response relationship showed a maximum standardised mean difference (SMD) indicating slightly better cognition among women with moderate alcohol consumption compared to current non-drinkers (SMD 0.18, 95%CI 0.02 to 0.34, at 14.4 grams/day; 5 studies, very low certainty evidence), and a trivial difference for men (SMD 0.05, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.10, at 19.4 grams/day; 6 studies, very low certainty evidence).
conclusionsMajor limitations in the design and reporting of included studies made it impossible to discern if the effects of 'lower' levels of alcohol intake are due to bias. Further review of the evidence is unlikely to resolve this issue without meta-analysis of individual patient data from cohort studies that address biases in the selection of participants and classification of alcohol consumption.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.