• Journal of Audiology & Otology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.63-68
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• 2019

Background and Objectives: To investigate the relationship between hearing impairment and alcohol drinking patterns in South Korean adults. Subjects and Methods: Data collection was performed by Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey from January 1 to December 31, 2012. Data analyses were performed from February 20 to March 3, 2018. Data from 3,860 adults 20 years of age or older without a history of malignancy or chronic otitis media in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey 2012 database who participated in the health questionnaires, and who had available results from otologic examinations that included pure tone audiogram, were included. Pure-tone average hearing thresholds were calculated at 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 Hz. Hearing loss was defined as a pure-tone average >40 dB in one or both ears. The Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test was used to evaluate drinking statuses of subjects. Data were analyzed using the complex-sample χ²-test of independence and a complex-sample logistic regression analysis. Results: Of the 29,954,319 individuals in the weighted cross-sectional study population, 15,106,040 (50.4%) were men and 14,848,098 (49.6%) were women. A total of 8.1% of men and 7% of women had hearing impairment. The degrees of drinking with appropriate, risky, and hazardous drinking habits were 58.2, 32.1, and 9.7% among men; and 76.4, 12.5, and 11.1% among women, respectively. Among men, the odds ratio of hearing loss increased by 2.506 times when comparing hazardous and appropriate drinking (confidence interval, 1.083 to 5.800, p=0.002). Moderate alcohol consumption (≤2 drinks per day) was not protective for hearing in either group. Conclusions: As hazardous drinking tends to coexist with hearing impairment in men, appropriate prevention and intervention strategies should be emphasized. A longitudinal study to investigate harmful drinking and the mechanism of hearing loss should be performed.

• Korean Journal of Audiology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.63-68
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• 2019

Background and Objectives: To investigate the relationship between hearing impairment and alcohol drinking patterns in South Korean adults. Subjects and Methods: Data collection was performed by Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey from January 1 to December 31, 2012. Data analyses were performed from February 20 to March 3, 2018. Data from 3,860 adults 20 years of age or older without a history of malignancy or chronic otitis media in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey 2012 database who participated in the health questionnaires, and who had available results from otologic examinations that included pure tone audiogram, were included. Pure-tone average hearing thresholds were calculated at 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 Hz. Hearing loss was defined as a pure-tone average >40 dB in one or both ears. The Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test was used to evaluate drinking statuses of subjects. Data were analyzed using the complex-sample χ²-test of independence and a complex-sample logistic regression analysis. Results: Of the 29,954,319 individuals in the weighted cross-sectional study population, 15,106,040 (50.4%) were men and 14,848,098 (49.6%) were women. A total of 8.1% of men and 7% of women had hearing impairment. The degrees of drinking with appropriate, risky, and hazardous drinking habits were 58.2, 32.1, and 9.7% among men; and 76.4, 12.5, and 11.1% among women, respectively. Among men, the odds ratio of hearing loss increased by 2.506 times when comparing hazardous and appropriate drinking (confidence interval, 1.083 to 5.800, p=0.002). Moderate alcohol consumption (≤2 drinks per day) was not protective for hearing in either group. Conclusions: As hazardous drinking tends to coexist with hearing impairment in men, appropriate prevention and intervention strategies should be emphasized. A longitudinal study to investigate harmful drinking and the mechanism of hearing loss should be performed.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.339-348
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• 2016

We investigated the gender-specific association between average volume of alcohol consumption, binge drinking, and periodontitis using representative nationwide data. In total, we included 3,549 men and 4,810 women, aged 19 years and older, who participated in the sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey performed in 2013~2014. According to the average volume of alcohol consumption, study participants were grouped as follows: mild drinkers (0.1~2.0 drinks/day in men and 0.1~1.0 drink/day in women), moderate drinkers (2.1~4.0 drinks/day in men and 1.1~2.0 drinks/day in women), and heavy drinkers (>4.0 drinks/day in men and >2.0 drinks/day in women). Additionally, binge drinking was categorized as never (no binge drinking), rarely (<1 time/month), occasionally (1 time/month), frequently (1 time/week), and always (almost every day/week). Periodontitis was defined as a community periodontal index equal to code 3 or greater. In men, after controlling for covariates, the association between average volume of alcohol consumption and periodontitis showed a J-shaped curve; the risk of periodontitis was significantly higher in moderate drinkers (odds ratio [OR], 1.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01~1.56) and heavy drinkers (OR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.04~1.87) than in mild drinkers. In contrast, no significant association between average volume of alcohol consumption and periodontitis was observed in women. In a fully adjusted analysis, which used 'never binge drinking' as a reference, a significant dose-response relationship between binge drinking and periodontitis was observed only in men: rarely (OR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.16~2.34), occasionally (OR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.05~2.16), frequently (OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.07~2.33), and always (OR, 2.56; 95% CI, 1.56~4.22) (p for trend=0.005). In conclusion, unhealthy drinking patterns such as moderate or heavy alcohol consumption and binge drinking were significantly associated with periodontitis in men but not in women.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.91-98
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• 2012

Objectives : The aim of this study was to examine the effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) genetic polymorphism and job stress on the severity of alcohol drinking. It was hypothesized that individuals with the Met/Met BDNF genotype would be more vulnerable than those carrying the Val allele. Methods : Participants were 133 healthy Korean adults (mean age $28.2{\pm}1.1$). Job stress and the severity index of drinking were investigated through self-reported questionnaires. BDNF (rs6265) gene was genotyped. Results : There was no significant association between job stress and the severity of alcohol drinking. Although the severity of alcohol drinking was not associated with BDNF genetic polymorphism, there was a significant difference in men according to genotype and job stress. Men with homozygous BDNF Met allele were more severe in alcohol drinking when job stress was high, less severe in alcohol drinking when job stress was low than those carrying the Val allele (F = 4.47, p = 0.038). Also higher level of job stress was correlated with higher severity of alcohol drinking in men homozygous for BDNF Met allele (rs = 0.620, p = 0.005). Conclusions : These findings suggest the possibility that Met allele could have differential susceptibility, with men homozygous for BDNF Met allele being more susceptible to both more adverse and less adverse environmental influences.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.49-60
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• 2016

Objectives: This study sought to explore the relationships between drinking problems and alcohol's harm to others with the moderating effects of alcohol expectancies on these relationships after controlling for demographic characteristics. Methods: Participants for this study were 1,859 men and women. We performed hierarchical regression analyses with sets of predictors (1) demographic characteristics, (2) drinking problems and alcohol expectancies, and (3) interaction terms between drinking problems and alcohol expectancies. Results: After controlling for demographic characteristics, drinking problems and alcohol expectancies had the significant effects on alcohol's harm to others in both men and women. However, the interactions between drinking problems and negative alcohol expectancy showed the significant impacts on alcohol's harm to others among men. When men had higher levels of negative alcohol expectancy, drinking problems showed stronger effects on alcohol's harm to others. Conclusions: As a result, findings from the study highlight the importance of more sophisticated public policy to prevent and to intervene drinking problems and to support those around drinkers and drinkers themselves.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.85-95
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• 2009

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the reasons for drinking and alcohol-related problems, and to identify the factors related with alcohol problems by gender among university students in Korea. Methods: A total of 472 students (47% men; 53% women) in four universities in Korea participated in this study. The following instruments were used the Reasons for Drinking Questionnaire (RFDQ) and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Results: In results the mean AUDIT was 9.6 (${\pm}5.4$) for men and 6.4 (${\pm}4.7$) for women, and there were high correlations between the AUDIT score and the reasons for drinking. The factors related with AUDIT score were age, the age of first smoking, and social reasons for drinking in men, but religion, age of first smoking, and negative reasons for drinking in women. Conclusion: This study reveals the reasons for drinking and alcohol related problems were different from drinking by gender among university students in Korea.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.771-781
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• 1995

The present study was aimed to examine various factors related to serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, atherogenic index, lipoperoxides and vitamin E in 174 middle-aged men residing in Taegu. Body mass index was positively correlated with serum triglyceride, and waist-hip circumference ratio was positively correlated with serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, atherogenic index and vitamin E concentration. Total cholesterol, triglyceride and atherogenic index of the subjects who smoked more than 20 cigarettes per day were significantly higher than those with smoking less or non-smokers. drinking alcohol more than 5 times per week showed higher atherogenic index than drinking less frequently of non-drinking. Subjects doing exercise had higher HDL-cholesterol level than those with no exercise. The intakes of all nutrients were above 90% of RDA and the subjects with good food habit had lower of total cholesterol, triglyceride, atherogenic index and lipoperoxides. The study indicates that avoiding heavy smoking and drinking as well as obesity and keeping regular exercise, good food habit and diversity of foods will reduce risk of cardiovascular diseases in middle-aged men.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.68-76
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• 2005

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate the level of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption in men with Diabetes Mellitus and to examine the relationships among those variables. Method: The subject consisted of 152 adult men with diabetes mellitus. Q-F methods and FTQ was used to measure the level of alcohol consumption and nicotine dependency. The amount of smoking was measured by the number of cigarette packs used per week. Results: Prevalence of drinking was 63.6% and in the current drinkers, 34.4% were heavy drinkers. The prevalence of cigarette smoking was 36.2% with a mean of 6.03 packs per week. Twenty percent of the smokers were dependent on nicotine. Subjects who had complications or other diseases drank alcohol more than who had not. There was a positive relationship between the level of smoking and nicotine dependency. Conclusion: Alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking is a serious health problem in men with diabetes. It is necessary to have an educational approach for controlling drinking and smoking in diabetes patients.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.393-400
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• 2001

We examined the relationship between plasma folate and total homocysteine(Hcy) levels and the distribution of plasma folate and Hcy levels from 204 Korean adults(113 men and 91 women aged between 20yr and 69yr). Plasma folate levels were significantly lower in men(12.2nmol/L) than in women(14.6nmol/L) after controlling for smoking and drinking(p<0.05). Plasma Hcy levels were significantly higher in men(13.9$\mu$mol/L) than in women(11.8$\mu$mol/L) after controlling and drinking. Plasma Hcy levels were more more strongly correlated with plasma folate in women(${\gamma}$=-0.321, p<0.05) than in men(${\gamma}$=-0.202, p<0.05), but the difference between men and women was no longer statistically significant controlling for plasma folate concentration. Prevalence of mild homocysteinemia(plama Hcy>15$\mu$mol/L) was greatest among subjects with lowest folate status. These results indicate a strong association between plasma Hcy concentration and folate status and the poor folate status is the strong causative factor of mild homocysteinemia. (Korean J Nutrition 34(4) : 393~400, 2001)

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.392-404
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• 2022

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Numerous studies have examined the relationship between drinking behaviors and metabolic syndrome (MetS) for adults, but these include very few studies for young adults. This study therefore undertook to investigate the association between drinking behaviors and components of MetS among adult drinkers aged 20-30 years. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Using the 2016-2018 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, drinking behaviors of adults in the age group 20-30 years were divided into 4 groups: 1) group A, good drinking habits; 2) group B, frequent binge drinking but not frequent drinking; 3) group C, frequent drinking but not frequent binge drinking; 4) group D, frequent drinking and binge drinking. The association between MetS components and drinking behaviors was analyzed by applying multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: We determined the prevalence risk compared to group A. In men, the prevalence risk of high triglyceride (TG) increased 2.051-fold in group C and 1.965-fold in group D. Moreover, in group D, the prevalence risk of low high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) increased 0.668-fold, high blood pressure (BP) increased 2.147-fold, and MetS increased 1.567-fold. In women, there was an increased prevalence risk of low HDL-C (0.353-fold) and MetS (3.438-fold) in group C, whereas group D showed increased prevalence risk of abdominal obesity (2.959-fold), high TG (1.824-fold, and low HDL-C (0.424-fold). CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that frequent drinking increases the risk of high TG, whereas frequent and binge drinking increases the risk of high TG, low HDL-C, high BP, and prevalence of MetS in men. In women, frequent drinking without binge drinking increases the risk of low HDL-C and MetS, whereas frequent and binge drinking increases the risk of abdominal obesity, high TG, and low HDL-C. We propose that improvements in the drinking behaviors can reduce the prevalence of MetS.