Evidence mapPaperPMID 41683293Full record

ArticleNutrients2026

Alcohol Intake and Incidence of Heart Failure and Its Subtypes: VA Million Veteran Program.

Xuan-Mai T Nguyen, Eiman Elhouderi, Yanping Li, April R Williams, Liam Gaziano, Jacob Joseph, John Michael Gaziano, Kelly Cho, Luc Djousse, VA Million Veteran Program

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nutrients, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Xuan-Mai T NguyenMassachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Collaborative, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02111, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6299-3763
Eiman ElhouderiMassachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Collaborative, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
Yanping LiMassachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Collaborative, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02111, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0412-2748
April R WilliamsMassachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Collaborative, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02111, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9061-334X
Liam GazianoMassachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Collaborative, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
Jacob JosephDepartment of Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
John Michael GazianoMassachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Collaborative, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
Kelly ChoMassachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Collaborative, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
Luc DjousseMassachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Collaborative, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02111, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9902-3047
VA Million Veteran Program

Funding

Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development MVP000, MVP001, MVP009
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLittle is known about the relation between total alcohol intake and beverage types with the risk of heart failure (HF) and its subtypes in the veteran population. This study aims to examine the associations between total and type of alcohol consumption and risk of HF and its subtypes, namely HF with reduced [HFrEF] and preserved [HFpEF] ejection fraction, in a large cohort of US veterans.

methodsThe study cohort included 401,348 Million Veteran Program participants with complete alcohol information collected through a survey and no HF at baseline. HF events were defined as 1 inpatient or 1 outpatient diagnosis code together with at least two ejection fraction (EF) measurements. We defined HFrEF as HF with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of ≤40% and HFpEF as heart failure with LVEF ≥ 50%. The associations between alcohol intake, type of beverage consumed (i.e., beer, wine, or liquor), and incidence of HF, HFpEF, and HFrEF were assessed using Cox proportional hazard models. Restricted cubic spline regression was used to assess for a dose-response association between alcohol consumption and the risk of HF.

resultsMean age was 65 years, and 91% were men. With a mean follow-up of 6.4 years, we observed 38,420 incident HF events (15,356 HFrEF, 19,047 HFpEF, and 4017 HF with an EF value of 41-49%). Compared to never drinkers, multivariable adjusted hazard ratios for HF were 0.90 (95% CI: 0.86, 0.94), 0.88 (95% CI: 0.84, 0.93), 0.86 (95% CI: 0.81, 0.91), 0.92 (95% CI: 0.86, 0.98), 0.95 (95% CI: 0.84, 1.06), and 1.08 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.15) for current drinkers of 0.1-0.5, 0.6-1, 1.1-2, 2.1-3, 3.1-4 drinks/day, and heavy drinkers (i.e., >4 drinks/day and/or those diagnosed with alcohol use disorder), respectively. We found a similar association between alcohol intake and risk of HFpEF and HFrEF, except heavy drinking was significantly associated with HFrEF (HR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.24), not HFpEF (HR: 1.05, 95% CI: 0.96, 1.13). Types of alcoholic beverage preference did not influence the alcohol-HF relation.

conclusionsOur data are consistent with a J-shaped relation between alcohol consumption and risk of heart failure, irrespective of subtypes.

Indexed as

Alcohol DrinkingHeart FailureVeteransAgedAlcoholic BeveragesCohort StudiesFemaleHumansIncidenceMaleMiddle AgedProportional Hazards ModelsRisk FactorsStroke VolumeUnited StatesVentricular Function, Leftalcoholepidemiologyheart failureheart failure with preserved ejection fractionheart failure with reduced ejection fractionveterans

Identifiers

PMID41683293
PMCPMC12899092

What Socratic holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.