HINTS 5 Cycle 1 was a mailed household survey conducted in 2017 which used probability-based sampling of addresses with stratification by the concentration of minority residents at the census tract level to result in a nationally representative sample. Of the 3,285 adults completing the survey, data from 3,009 adults are reported here from analyses conducted in 2017–2018 (276 omitted due to missing data on the key question about alcohol and cancer). People who said they had searched for cancer information were more likely to know about the cancer risks posed by drinking beer and by drinking liquor than those who did not. But awareness of the risk from drinking wine was similar in both those who had and hadn’t sought cancer information. To assess changes in alcohol use after receiving a cancer diagnosis, we used the query “Did your drinking change after you learned you had cancer? ” and followed up with respondents who answered “yes” with the query “How did your drinking change after you learned you had cancer?
It also underscores the importance of healthcare professionals in advising women in general and breast cancer survivors in particular about the risks of alcohol use. In a nationally representative survey, 38% of the US population believed that drinking too much alcohol can increase risk of cancer. This level of awareness is consistent with recent assessments in other nationally representative surveys of the US, which have ranged from 30% to 46% (18, 19, 39). In comparison, recent estimates of awareness of tobacco and sun exposure as risk factors for cancer in the US were 78% and 66%, respectively (39).
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Further, the prevalence of alcohol use, including high-risk drinking, has increased significantly in the US since 2002, with particularly sharp increases among women, racial/ethnic minorities, and people with lower income or educational attainment (2). Because cancer risk increases with the amount of ethanol consumed, all alcoholic beverages pose a risk. Researchers and health professionals can do more to help break down these misconceptions, Dr. LoConte added.
- The study confirmed that most American adults aren’t aware of the link between alcohol consumption and cancer.
- “We are worried that 10 to 20 years down the road, we’re going to see a substantial increase in alcohol-related cancers,” Dr. Klein said.
- Knowledge of this association is not new, as alcohol has been listed as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer since 1988 (9).
- Researchers and health professionals can do more to help break down these misconceptions, Dr. LoConte added.
- Drinking alcohol can increase your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, larynx (voice box), liver, and breast.
- These findings underscore the need for future studies to better understand alcohol risk perceptions among cancer survivors and what messaging and healthcare communication strategies may be most effective to increase awareness and instigate healthy behavior change.
Thus, our analytic sample consisted of 204 women who self-identified as having been diagnosed with breast cancer. The ABLE cross-sectional survey did not contain any questions regarding the status or stage of breast cancer or treatment. The researchers cited the change in public perceptions and tighter regulations for tobacco, which show the importance of public health campaigns and physicians explaining risks to their patients.
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All authors contributed to the interpretation of the results, reviewed the manuscript, and agreed with the final version. The work reported in the paper has been performed by the authors, unless clearly specified in the text. Nearly 4% of cancers diagnosed worldwide in 2020 can be attributed to alcohol consumption, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States alone, about 75,000 cancer cases and 19,000 cancer deaths are estimated to be linked to alcohol each year.
- ” and followed up with respondents who answered “yes” with the query “How did your drinking change after you learned you had cancer?
- Targeted brief advice has been shown to significantly increase the likelihood of behavior change 63.
- Similarly, a U.S. population-based survey showed only 24.4% of women recognized the risk, while over 40% were unsure.
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”, with the response options of “I increased how often I drink”, “I increased how much I drink”, “I reduced how often I drink”, “I reduced how much I drink”, “I quit drinking”. We used these two items to create a 4-level categorical variable indicating no change in drinking, an increase in drinking, quitting drinking, or a reduction in drinking. Alcohol consumption is an important precursor of illness, accounting for 4.6% of injury and disease globally (1).
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Awareness was highest among younger women and was significantly influenced by medical advice. Despite the low overall awareness, our findings suggest that information from medical professionals may increase awareness, as observed in the higher prevalence of awareness in this sample compared to the general ABLE survey population (24%) 46. These findings underscore the need for future studies to better understand alcohol risk perceptions among cancer survivors and what messaging and healthcare communication strategies may be most effective to increase awareness and instigate healthy behavior change. Additionally, research needs to engage health care providers to better understand their recommendations, willingness and training in communicating health risks, including those posed by alcohol use, particularly to cancer survivors.
William MP Klein
Additionally, reductions in post-diagnosis drinking were minimal, with only 10% of survivors quitting drinking, with a sizeable proportion reporting increases in awareness of alcohols link to cancer lagging nci intake, and no association between post-diagnosis drinking changes and awareness. This suggests the need for providers to make a clearer connection between alcohol use and breast cancer outcomes to improve awareness of alcohol’s effects on breast cancer and the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors after a cancer diagnosis. Overall, our findings highlight the need for tailored education and intervention strategies to enhance awareness and promote healthier lifestyle choices among breast cancer survivors.
” Participants considered eight cancer types (bladder, brain, breast, colon, liver, oral, ovarian, and stomach). This approach is consistent with previous work by Buika and colleagues examining awareness of alcohol consumption as a risk factor for breast cancer 54. Participants responded with yes, alcohol consumption increases risk; no, alcohol consumption does not increase risk; or they were unsure or did not know, and we created a 3-level categorical variable as the outcome variable.
In this multivariable analysis, we controlled for age, race, ethnicity, self-reported health, rural/urban status, AUDIT category and the U.S. region of residence. The study confirmed that most American adults aren’t aware of the link between alcohol consumption and cancer. It also found that, even among those who are aware, there’s a belief that it varies by the type of alcohol. For example, more participants were aware of the cancer risks from hard liquor and beer than about the risk from wine, with some participants believing wine lowers your cancer risk.
In this study, we chose to distinguish between respondents who reported “don’t know” and “no”. Although past research has combined both responses, recent evidence and our results suggests that there is a distinction between people reporting “no” versus “don’t know” when responding to awareness items (37). Future research should continue to explore differences between people who do not believe alcohol is a risk factor for cancer and those who are unclear as different educational strategies may be needed to increase awareness in both groups. SAS 9.3 was used for all analyses, and analyses were weighted using jack-knife replicate weights to provide US representative estimates with appropriate standard errors (36).
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After calculating descriptive statistics, two multinomial multivariable logistic regression models were created to assess the association between personal characteristics and reporting “Yes” or “Don’t know” compared to “No”. Model 1 included only demographic personal characteristics (education, personal or family cancer history, smoking status, sex, age, and education), which included the previously considered moderators of awareness, as well as employment status, race, and ethnicity. Model 2 included all variables from Model 1 as well as the health-related belief and cancer information seeking variables (health self-efficacy, cancer worry, cancer fatalism, cause ambiguity, and cancer information seeking).