Does moderate alcohol use affect health-care costs? A propensity analysis of female health-care workers.

AIMS: To determine differences in health-care costs associated with moderate alcohol consumption among female health-care workers while controlling for other risk factors that may be correlated with alcohol use. DESIGN AND
SETTING: Non-randomized, prospective, observational study of health-care costs by female health-care workers in a large managed care organization recruited between 1 January 1998 and 1 July 2000. PARTICIPANTS: Six hundred and eighty-five female employees, continuously and stably employed by the managed care organization, who received health-care through the affiliated managed care organization. All women completed a health risk appraisal as part of the company's Employee Wellness Plan; 218 women were categorized as moderate drinkers and 467 as abstainers/light drinkers. MEASUREMENTS: Total costs of in-plan and out-of-plan health-care utilization, by type of service, during the 6 month period after completing the health risk survey were calculated.
FINDINGS: Using 218 one-to-one matched pairs of moderate drinkers and abstainers/light drinkers, no significant differences in total, outpatient or inpatient costs were observed during the 6 month observation period. Pharmacy costs were significantly lower for moderate drinkers (-43 dollars, 95% CI = -88.82 dollars to -2.41 dollars), primarily due to differences in costs from anxiolytic (including barbiturates and benzodiazepines), hypnotic and sedative drug fills.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings demonstrate the value of risk factor matching when studying the relationship between alcohol use and health-care utilization. The discovery of differential pharmacy utilization raises the possibility that alcohol consumption may reduce the use of prescribed central nervous system depressants.