In healthy adults with low-level alcohol intake greater age and lifetime alcohol consumption are associated with poorer manual dexterity and higher lifetime consumption is related to worse postural stability.

BACKGROUND

Low-level alcohol consumption at or below current guidelines (≤1 standard drink equivalent/day for females, ≤2 standard drink equivalents/day for males) has been indicated to carry minimal systemic health risks. This study assessed the relationships between alcohol consumption over 1- and 3-years prior to study and over lifetime and measures of manual dexterity and postural stability in healthy adults with low-level alcohol consumption.

METHOD: Healthy, non-smoking adults (n = 83; 21-69 years old) completed measures of dominant and non-dominant hand dexterity, complex motor coordination and motor speed (Lafayette Grooved Peg Board), and static postural stability (Sharpened Romberg Test; eyes open and eyes closed conditions). Alcohol consumption over 1- and 3-years prior to study, and over lifetime, was acquired via the Lifetime Drinking History.

RESULTS

The greater multiplicative product of age and total lifetime drinks was related to poorer dexterity, complex motor coordination and motor speed for the dominant hand, and for the summed performance across the dominant and non-dominant hands. Greater lifetime average drinks/month was related to poorer static postural stability, with eyes closed. Males and females showed equivalent performance across dependent measures.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicated higher lifetime alcohol consumption, at a level that has been historically regarded as low risk for adverse functional consequences, was associated with poorer performance on established clinical and research measures of manual dexterity, complex motor coordination and motor speed, and static postural stability. These results may have implications for current alcohol consumption public health guidelines and associated policies.