SynthesisEuropace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology2026
Alcohol consumption and risk of atrial fibrillation: a pairwise and network meta-analysis.
Synthesis in 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, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
Abstract
aimsDespite well-established evidence linking alcohol consumption to an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), a clear threshold for safe intake remains undefined. Most clinical guidelines recommend abstinence or moderation, but lack specificity regarding quantitative limits and evidence-based thresholds for primary prevention of AF. METHODS AND
resultsWe performed this systematic review, pairwise meta-analysis, and network meta-analysis to assess the association and dose-response relationship between varying quantities of alcohol consumption and incident AF. The predefined alcohol intake categories included: no intake, very low (<12 g/day), low (12.1-24 g/day), moderate (24.1-48 g/day), high (48.1-60 g/day), and very high (>60 g/day). The pairwise meta-analyses compared each intake category to no intake, and a frequentist network meta-analysis was conducted to integrate direct and indirect comparisons. Pooled risk ratio (RR) for AF incidence were estimated using random-effects models, and a subgroup analysis by sex was performed. Twenty-six studies with nearly 15 million participants were included. As compared to those with no alcohol intake, very high alcohol intake was associated with a 75% increased risk of incident AF (RR 1.75; 95% CI: 1.25-2.44, P = 0.04), intake below 48 g/day was associated with modestly lower AF risk, and the lowest risk was observed at <12 g/day (RR 0.72; 95% CI: 0.63-0.83). The weighted mean follow-up was approximately 6.4 years. Network meta-analysis confirmed these findings and demonstrated a significantly increased AF risk with very high compared to low (RR 1.91), moderate (RR 2.03), and high (RR 2.00) levels. Sex-stratified analyses showed similar results.
conclusionAlcohol consumption is associated with a nonlinear, threshold-dependent relationship with incident AF. While low to moderate intake may not increase AF risk, intake beyond 60 g/day significantly increases the AF risk. These findings may suggest that a more liberal approach to alcohol consumption, particularly at low to moderate levels, could be reasonable in the general population, though further prospective studies are needed to confirm causality and refine individual risk stratification.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.