Association of Daily Alcohol Consumption and Drinking Patterns with Risk of Primary Malignant Brain Tumor in Korean Adults: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Evidence on whether alcohol consumption and drinking patterns contribute to the risk of primary malignant brain tumors remains limited. We examined associations of daily alcohol consumption, drinking frequency, and heavy episodic drinking with tumor incidence in a nationwide cohort. We analyzed data from the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort (version 2.2), including 240,948 adults aged ≥ 20 years who completed a general health screening between 2006 and 2008. Alcohol-related behaviors were assessed using standardized questionnaires. Incident primary malignant brain tumors were identified using code C71 and the special registration code V193. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models adjusting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Over a mean follow-up of 12 years, 209 incident malignant brain tumors occurred (7.2 per 100,000 person-years). Daily alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking were not associated with tumor risk. In contrast, drinking frequency showed a positive association: participants who drank almost daily had a higher risk (vs. non-drinkers) (HR, 2.61; 95% CI, 1.21-5.61;