Alcohol patterns were assessed once at inclusion and were not estimated during the course of the follow-up. Changes in alcohol habits during the follow-up period could have had an effect on the relation of alcohol consumption with ischaemic heart disease. Demographic factors influence alcohol consumption behaviour33 34 and our study has investigated a very homogeneous population of men aged 50-59 years, so we cannot generalise our results to women and to other age groups. The use of “typical weekly consumption” as a reference may underestimate the prevalence of infrequent binge drinking, but probably more so in the French than in the Northern Irish population, where binge drinking on weekends seems to be a well established pattern.
