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Factors associated with phosphatidylethanol (PEth) sensitivity for detecting unhealthy alcohol use: An individual patient data meta-analysis

  • Judith A. Hahn
  • , Pamela M. Murnane
  • , Eric Vittinghoff
  • , Winnie R. Muyindike
  • , Nneka I. Emenyonu
  • , Robin Fatch
  • , Gabriel Chamie
  • , Jessica E. Haberer
  • , Joel M. Francis
  • , Saidi Kapiga
  • , Karen Jacobson
  • , Bronwyn Myers
  • , Marie Claude Couture
  • , Ralph J. DiClemente
  • , Jennifer L. Brown
  • , Kaku So-Armah
  • , Mark Sulkowski
  • , Gregory M. Marcus
  • , Sarah Woolf-King
  • , Robert L. Cook
  • Veronica L. Richards, Patricia Molina, Tekeda Ferguson, David Welsh, Mariann R. Piano, Shane A. Phillips, Scott Stewart, Majid Afshar, Kimberly Page, Kathleen McGinnis, David A. Fiellin, Amy C. Justice, Kendall Bryant, Richard Saitz
  • University of California at San Francisco
  • Mbarara University of Science and Technology
  • Massachusetts General Hospital
  • National Institute for Medical Research Tanzania
  • London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  • University of the Witwatersrand
  • Boston University
  • South African Medical Research Council
  • University of Cape Town
  • University of San Francisco
  • New York University
  • University of Cincinnati
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • Syracuse University
  • University of Florida
  • Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
  • Vanderbilt University
  • University of Illinois at Chicago
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • University of New Mexico
  • Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Yale University
  • National Institutes of Health

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

85 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Objective measurement of alcohol consumption is important for clinical care and research. Adjusting for self-reported alcohol use, we conducted an individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis to examine factors associated with the sensitivity of phosphatidylethanol (PEth), an alcohol metabolite, among persons self-reporting unhealthy alcohol consumption. Methods: We identified 21 eligible studies and obtained 4073 observations from 3085 participants with Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test—Consumption (AUDIT-C) positive scores (≥3 for women and ≥4 for men) and PEth measurements. We conducted 1-step IPD meta-analysis using mixed effects models with random intercepts for study site. We examined the associations between demographic (sex, race/ethnicity, and age) and biologic (body mass index—BMI, hemoglobin, HIV status, liver fibrosis, and venous versus finger-prick blood collection) variables with PEth sensitivity (PEth≥8 ng/ml), adjusting for the level of self-reported alcohol use using the AUDIT-C score. Results: One third (31%) of participants were women, 32% were African, 28% African American, 28% White, and 12% other race/ethnicity. PEth sensitivity (i.e., ≥8 ng/ml) was 81.8%. After adjusting for AUDIT-C, we found no associations of sex, age, race/ethnicity, or method of blood collection with PEth sensitivity. In models that additionally included biologic variables, those with higher hemoglobin and indeterminate and advanced liver fibrosis had significantly higher odds of PEth sensitivity; those with higher BMI and those living with HIV had significantly lower odds of PEth sensitivity. African Americans and Africans had higher odds of PEth sensitivity than whites in models that included biologic variables. Conclusions: Among people reporting unhealthy alcohol use, several biological factors (hemoglobin, BMI, liver fibrosis, and HIV status) were associated with PEth sensitivity. Race/ethnicity was associated with PEth sensitivity in some models but age, sex, and method of blood collection were not. Clinicians should be aware of these factors, and researchers should consider adjusting analyses for these characteristics where possible.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1166-1187
Number of pages22
JournalAlcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research
Volume45
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2021

Keywords

  • alcohol
  • individual participant data meta-analysis
  • phosphatidylethanol
  • sensitivity

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