We noted little heterogeneity in the studies contributing results for stroke (I2=12%), myocardial infarction (I2=12%), coronary disease excluding myocardial infarction (I2=26%), heart failure (I2=4%) or deaths from other types of cardiovascular disease (I2=33%; figure 3). HRs for the cardiovascular disease outcomes we studied were broadly similar for different geographical regions, decade of study enrolment, by data source (ie, ERFC, EPIC-CVD, and UK Biobank), and alcohol assessment method (appendix pp 40–42). HRs for the cardiovascular disease outcomes were generally higher at younger ages, but did not vary substantially by sex, history of diabetes, proatherogenic lipids, BMI, smoking status, or other individual-level characteristics (appendix pp 43–45). There was no evidence of small study effects (appendix p 46). Our data showed no evidence of violation of the proportional hazards assumption.
