The association between alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality: An umbrella review of systematic reviews using lifetime abstainers or low-volume drinkers as a reference group

Ref ID 1057
First Author P. Sarich
Journal ADDICTION
Year Of Publishing 2024
URL https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.16446
Keywords Risk of bias
Public health
Problem(s) High risk of bias (ROBIS)
Limited quality assessment or no risk of bias
Insufficient literature searches
Single reviewer / lack of double checking
Poor consideration of publication bias
Number of systematic reviews included 5
Summary of Findings All five included reviews reported significantly increased risk with higher levels of alcohol consumption, but four of the five included reviews had a high risk of bias using ROBIS. One review searched only a single electronic database, one review did not specify literature search terms, three reviews did not specify that at least two reviewers performed study selection and/or data collection and/or risk of bias assessment for all articles, three reviews did not perform a risk of bias or methodological quality assessment, and one review did not address publication bias. Moreover, although sub-group analyses were reported by sex and age there were evidence gaps for many important factors. Finally, Over 70% of systematic reviews and meta-analyses published to March 2022 of all-cause mortality risk associated with alcohol consumption did not exclude former drinkers from the reference group and may therefore be biased.
Did the article find that the problem(s) led to qualitative changes in interpretation of the results? Not Applicable
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study?