Study Shows Very Low Knowledge About Link Between Low-Dose Alcohol Use and Breast Cancer in Ireland

This study examined factors related to awareness of the association between alcohol use and breast cancer risk.
Given that two in every ten female alcohol users in Ireland engage in hazardous alcohol use on a typical alcohol consumption occasion, and that breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Ireland, the aim of this study was to investigate the level of public knowledge of the association between alcohol use and risk of developing breast cancer, and also to identify characteristics related to awareness, using a representative random sample of the Irish population.
This nationally representative study of 7,498 respondents, demonstrates a lack of awareness of the carcinogenic effects of alcohol, with just one in five respondents being aware of the link between exceeding the recommended weekly low–risk alcohol guidelines and developing female breast cancer. Multivariable regression analysis found that factors most strongly associated with awareness were sex (female), middle age (45—54 years) and higher educational levels.