The Study
Prevention and Treatment of Hypertension Study (PATHS): effects of an alcohol treatment program on blood pressure.
This study tried to see if helping people drink less alcohol would lower their blood pressure. It found that people did drink less, but their blood pressure didn't drop enough to be sure it was because of drinking less. So we can say drinking less might help, but we can't say for sure.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists tested if helping people drink less alcohol would make their blood pressure drop.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 562 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The drop in blood pressure was too small to matter for health — like reducing a 130/85 reading to 129/84 — and didn't stop people from developing high blood pressure.
- 2People who got help to drink less cut back by 1.3 drinks per day — but their blood pressure only dropped a tiny bit (1.2 mm Hg systolic, 0.7 mm Hg diastolic), not enough to be meaningful.
- 3Also, 21% of them got hypertension, compared to 26% in the group that didn't get help.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Archives of internal medicine
Year
1998
Authors
W. Cushman, J. Cutler, E. Hanna, S. Bingham, D. Follmann, T. Harford, P. Dubbert, P. Allender, M. Dufour, J. Collins, Sandra M. Walsh, G. Kirk, M. Burg, J. Felicetta, B. Hamilton, L. Katz, H. Perry, M. Willenbring, R. Lakshman, R. Hamburger
Related Content
Claims (6)
Over 24 months, a cognitive-behavioral program reduced alcohol consumption by 1.3 drinks per day more than no intervention, but blood pressure dropped by only a small, statistically insignificant amount, showing that reducing alcohol intake modestly does not lead to meaningful blood pressure changes in this group.
A cognitive-behavioral intervention reduced average daily alcohol consumption by 1.3 drinks in moderate to heavy drinkers over two years, and 44% of participants cut their drinking in half by six months.
Among adults with high blood pressure, reducing alcohol intake by 1.3 drinks per day resulted in a very small and statistically insignificant drop in blood pressure, suggesting that small reductions in alcohol consumption may not lower blood pressure as much as previously thought.
Among adults with high blood pressure, cutting alcohol intake by 1.3 drinks per day for two years did not lower the rate of new hypertension diagnoses compared to those who did not change their drinking habits.
Changes in alcohol consumption reported by moderate drinkers match measurable changes in specific blood markers, showing that self-reports accurately reflect real changes in drinking behavior over time.
When people who drink six or more units of alcohol per day cut their intake in half, their systolic blood pressure drops by about 5.5 mm Hg.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.