A total of 305 male participants provided blood samples and completed the AUDIT questionnaire. The mean age of the study population was 45.1 ± 11.1 years, ranging from 21 to 75 years. While the average age of the treated alcoholics (44.3 years), problem drinkers (47.5 years) and control groups (44.2 years) at the time of interview did not differ significantly (p ≥ 0.05), the average weight (kg, p = 0.026) but not body mass index (kg/m2, p = 0.19) of the treated alcoholics (77.6 kg, 24.7 kg/m2) and control (81.3 kg, 25.3 kg/m2) groups did. Among the general population (n = 201), 15.9 per cent displayed hazardous patterns of alcohol consumption and 31.8 per cent scored ≥ 20 on the AUDIT and were classified in our analyses as problem drinkers (since they generally experienced both dependence symptoms and alcohol-related problems) and were also included in the problem/dependent group.
