Our study's access to individual-participant data avoided limitations of previous literature-based reviews.56 To limit reverse causality, our study focused on current drinkers without baseline cardiovascular disease and omitted the initial period of follow-up. To limit confounding, our study adjusted for a variety of risk factors. To correct for misclassification in alcohol consumption and covariates, our study also used extensive information on serial assessments. Our results were robust to a variety of sensitivity analyses. Generalisability of the findings was enhanced by inclusion of data from 83 prospective studies based in many different high-income countries recruited between 1964 and 2010. Although alcohol consumption levels declined during this period, HRs were similar over calendar time.
