Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40168296›Full record

ArticlePloS one2025

Characteristics of non-drinking and drinking adults in Taiwan and their implications in alcohol epidemiological studies.

Tsung Yu, Tzu-Jung Wong, Hsing-Yu Yang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Tsung YuDepartment of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
Tzu-Jung WongDepartment of Healthcare Information and Management, School of Health and Medical Engineering, Ming Chuan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Hsing-Yu YangDepartment of Nursing, MacKay Medical College, New Taipei, Taiwan.ORCID 0000-0002-6643-8801

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundConfounding is a major threat to causal inferences regarding alcohol and health. One proposed causal inference approach was to compare the associations obtained from cohorts in different countries, where we know the confounding structures are different. To explore the confounding structure related to alcohol and health in Taiwan, we compared differences in the characteristics of drinkers and non-drinkers, using data from the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (2013-2016).

methodsThe cross-sectional survey data were collected nationwide and were representative of residents in Taiwan, which included 2,846 men and 2,833 women ages 19 years and older. We used information regarding alcohol drinking and covariates of sociodemographic and health behavior variables. We performed sex-stratified multinomial logistic regression to assess the associations between each independent variable and alcohol drinking (non-drinkers, occasional drinkers, and moderate drinkers).

resultsAmong men, 31% were non-drinkers, 7% former drinkers, 43% occasional drinkers, 13% moderate drinkers, and 5% heavy drinkers. Among women, 62% were non-drinkers, 1% former drinkers, 32% occasional drinkers, 4% moderate drinkers, and 1% heavy drinkers. In both men and women, occasional drinkers had higher educational levels and fewer family financial problems, but had more smoking and betel nut chewing behaviors than non-drinkers, after we adjusted for age. Moderate drinkers had even more smoking and betel nut chewing behaviors. Male moderate drinkers also reported more comorbidities than non-drinkers.

conclusionsWe observed that occasional drinkers had a better socioeconomic position than non-drinkers; moderate drinkers seemed to have a worse risk profile than non-drinkers. These confounding patterns were different from that in Western countries and may thereby help us make causal inferences regarding alcohol and health.

Indexed as

Alcohol DrinkingAdultAgedCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedTaiwanYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID40168296
PMCPMC11960929

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