The impact of removing former drinkers from genome-wide association studies of AUDIT-C.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) questionnaire screens for harmful drinking using a 12-month timeframe. A score of 0 is assigned to individuals who report abstaining from alcohol in the past year. However, many middle-age individuals reporting current abstinence are former drinkers (FDs). Because FDs may be more genetically prone to harmful alcohol use than lifelong abstainers (LAs) and are often combined with LAs, we evaluated the impact of differentiating them on the identification of genetic association.

Design and setting

The United Kingdom Biobank (UKBB) includes AUDIT-C and alcohol drinker status.

Participants

131 510 Europeans, including 5135 FDs.

Measurements

We compared three genome-wide associatio

SUBMITTER: Dao C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9377185 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature