(appendix p 18); excluded participants with diabetes or other known chronic diseases at baseline (appendix p 18); and restricted the analyses to studies that recorded both non-fatal and fatal endpoints (appendix p 37). Associations of baseline alcohol consumption with all-cause mortality were stronger in drinkers of beer or spirits than of wine, and in those drinking less frequently (when consuming the same weekly amount), including binge drinkers (appendix p 38). However, people showing these behaviours had higher baseline levels of smoking and other indicators of lower socioeconomic status, suggesting the potential for confounding effects (appendix pp 19–20). For cardiovascular disease subtypes, HRs tended to be higher in beer and spirit drinkers than in wine drinkers, but not significantly so in direct comparisons involving a common set of participants (appendix p 39).
