High-risk drinking is associated with a higher risk of diabetes mellitus in Korean men, based on the 2010–2012 KNHANES

• This study was designed as a cross-sectional study based on data from the 2010–2012 KNHANES.
• We examined the association between prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and alcohol-drinking pattern.
• We categorized alcohol-drinking pattern into three groups based on AUDIT.
• These results suggested that high-risk alcohol drinking increases the occurrence of DM in men.

We examined the association between alcohol-drinking pattern and diabetes mellitus (DM) in Korean adults. This cross-sectional study included 12,486 participants (5551 men and 6935 women) who participated in the 2010–2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We categorized alcohol-drinking pattern into three groups based on the alcohol-use disorders identification test (AUDIT): low-risk (score: 0–7), intermediate-risk (score: 8–14), and high-risk (score: ≥15). DM was defined as having fasting plasma glucose ≥126 mg/dL or taking glucose-lowering medication, including insulin therapy. In the study population, 25.2% of men and 4.7% of women were high-risk drinkers. DM prevalence was 9.2% in men and 5.4% in women. DM prevalence was 9.0% and 5.7% in the low-risk drinking group, 7.6% and 4.1% in the intermediate-risk drinking group, and 11.2% and 3.5% in the high-risk drinking group in men and women, respectively. Compared to the low-risk drinking group, odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of men and women in the intermediate-risk drinking group for DM were 1.043 (0.779–1.396) and 1.139 (0.712–1.824), respectively, and 1.480 (1.133–1.933) and 0.827 (0.296–2.311) in the high-risk drinking group, after adjusting for age and other confounding factors. In conclusion, high-risk drinking appears to be associated with a higher risk of DM in men, but not in women.