Alcohol consumption and pulmonary function. A cross-sectional and longitudinal study.

The impact of alcohol consumption on pulmonary function was examined in 1,067 men. Subjects were classified according to their average weekly alcohol consumption, and spirometry was performed twice on all subjects over a 5-year interval. A multiple regression analysis indicated that alcohol consumption did not significantly influence baseline levels of forced vital capacity (FVC) or forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) after controlling for age, height, cigarette smoking habits, and educational attainment. Similarly, alcohol consumption did not significantly influence follow-up levels of FVC or FEV1 after controlling for age, height, cigarette smoking habits, educational attainment, and baseline pulmonary function. Although these results do not rule out a possible independent effect of alcohol on pulmonary function, any such effect would be relatively small.