• Katriina Heikkilä, Solja T Nyberg, Eleonor I Fransson, Lars Alfredsson, Dirk De Bacquer, Jakob B Bjorner, Sébastien Bonenfant, Marianne Borritz, Hermann Burr, Els Clays, Annalisa Casini, Nico Dragano, Raimund Erbel, Goedele A Geuskens, Marcel Goldberg, Wendela E Hooftman, Irene L Houtman, Matti Joensuu, Karl-Heinz Jöckel, France Kittel, Anders Knutsson, Markku Koskenvuo, Aki Koskinen, Anne Kouvonen, Constanze Leineweber, Thorsten Lunau, Ida E H Madsen, Linda L Magnusson Hanson, Michael G Marmot, Martin L Nielsen, Maria Nordin, Jaana Pentti, Paula Salo, Reiner Rugulies, Andrew Steptoe, Johannes Siegrist, Sakari Suominen, Jussi Vahtera, Marianna Virtanen, Ari Väänänen, Peter Westerholm, Hugo Westerlund, Marie Zins, Töres Theorell, Mark Hamer, Jane E Ferrie, Archana Singh-Manoux, G David Batty, Mika Kivimäki, and IPD-Work Consortium.
• Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland. katriina.heikkila@ttl.fi
• Plos One. 2012 Jan 1; 7 (7): e40101.

BackgroundThe relationship between work-related stress and alcohol intake is uncertain. In order to add to the thus far inconsistent evidence from relatively small studies, we conducted individual-participant meta-analyses of the association between work-related stress (operationalised as self-reported job strain) and alcohol intake.Methodology And Principal FindingsWe analysed cross-sectional data from 12 European studies (n = 142 140) and longitudinal data from four studies (n = 48 646). Job strain and alcohol intake were self-reported. Job strain was analysed as a binary variable (strain vs. no strain). Alcohol intake was harmonised into the following categories: none, moderate (women: 1-14, men: 1-21 drinks/week), intermediate (women: 15-20, men: 22-27 drinks/week) and heavy (women: >20, men: >27 drinks/week). Cross-sectional associations were modelled using logistic regression and the results pooled in random effects meta-analyses. Longitudinal associations were examined using mixed effects logistic and modified Poisson regression. Compared to moderate drinkers, non-drinkers and (random effects odds ratio (OR): 1.10, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.14) and heavy drinkers (OR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.26) had higher odds of job strain. Intermediate drinkers, on the other hand, had lower odds of job strain (OR: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.86, 0.99). We found no clear evidence for longitudinal associations between job strain and alcohol intake.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that compared to moderate drinkers, non-drinkers and heavy drinkers are more likely and intermediate drinkers less likely to report work-related stress.

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