2025/02/02 by Xiaohang Zhang, Wenze Wu, Guisheng Zhou +4
Medicine · #Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes #Traumatic Brain Injury Research #Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disturbances
paper · doi:10.1080/02699052.2025.2460740
openalex publication_date 2025/02/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Background Observational studies suggest that alcohol consumption increases the risk of traumatic brain injury (TBI); however, the causality of this association remains unclear.Objectives This study aimed to identify which drinking pattern is the primary factor influencing TBI.Method Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) was used to assess whether drinking patterns (alcohol consumption, abuse, and intake frequency) are causally associated with TBI risk.Results MR analysis revealed causal effects of alcohol intake frequency [odds ratio (OR) 0.806, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.665–0.978, p = 0.028, beta: −0.215, se: 0.098], alcohol drinks per week (OR 1.772, 95% CI: 1.140–2.753, p = 0.011, beta: 0.572, se: 0.225), and alcohol abuse (OR 1.095, 95% CI: 1.006–1.192, p = 0.035, beta: 0.091, se: 0.043) on TBI. Additionally, no causal effect of alcohol consumption (OR 0.730, 95% CI: 0.264–2.025, p = 0.546, beta: −0.314, se: 0.520) or average monthly alcohol intake (OR 1.138, 95% CI: 0.805–1.609, p = 0.463, beta: 0.130, se: 0.177) on TBI was observed. Similarly, the effects of TBI on alcohol intake were statistically non-significant.Conclusion Drinking patterns, including alcohol intake frequency and abuse, influence TBI, whereas TBI rarely influences drinking patterns.