Alcohol Consumption Index as a Novel Risk Marker for Hypertension

Figures

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  FIGURE 1. Histograms of ACI (A) and base‐10 log‐transformed ACI (B).

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  FIGURE 2. Comparison of log‐transformed ACI in different groups divided by frequency of alcohol intake (A) and amount of alcohol consumption (B). Means with standard errors of log‐transformed ACI are shown. Age, BMI, current therapy for hypertension, and habits of smoking and regular exercise were adjusted for in the multivariable analysis. Symbols denote significant differences from nondrinkers (**, p < 0.01) and occasional or light drinkers (##, p < 0.01).

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  FIGURE 3. Comparison of systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels at baseline and 5 years later in each pair of groups divided by frequency of alcohol intake. (A) Regular drinkers at baseline and nondrinkers 5 years later (n = 76); (B) Regular drinkers at baseline and occasional drinkers 5 years later (n = 373); (C) Regular drinkers at baseline and regular drinkers 5 years later (n = 2 586). Means with standard errors of blood pressure are shown. Asterisks denote significant differences from the levels at baseline (**, p < 0.01).

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  FIGURE 4. Comparison of systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels at baseline of this study and 5 years later in each pair of groups divided by amount of alcohol consumption. (A) Heavy drinkers at baseline and nondrinkers 5 years later (n = 50); (B) Heavy drinkers at baseline and light drinkers 5 years later (n = 118); (C) Heavy drinkers at baseline and heavy drinkers 5 years later (n = 1 981). Means with standard errors of blood pressure are shown. Asterisks denote significant differences from the levels at baseline (**; p < 0.01).

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  FIGURE 5. Comparison of systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels at baseline of this study and 5 years later in each pair of the groups divided by tertiles of ACI. (A) 3rd tertile of ACI at baseline and 1st tertile of ACI 5 years later (n = 65); (B) 3rd tertile of ACI at baseline and 2nd tertile of ACI 5 years later (n = 484); (C) 3rd tertile of ACI at baseline and 3rd tertile of ACI 5 years later (n = 1 670). Means with standard errors of blood pressure are shown. Asterisks denote significant differences from the levels at baseline (*, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01).