Among older adults with incident heart failure (HF), limited alcohol consumption may be associated with increased survival, a new study found. The prospective cohort study included 5,888 community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 years recruited to participate in the Cardiovascular Health Study between June 12, 1989, and June 1993, from 4 US sites. Researchers found:

• Among the 393 adults diagnosed with incident HF, 213 (54.2%) were female, 339 (86.3%) were white, and the mean age was 78.7 years.
• Alcohol consumption after diagnosis was reported in 129 (32.8%) of participants.
• In the cohort, consumption of ≤7 alcoholic drinks per week was significantly associated with increased survival compared with abstinence from alcohol, after controlling for other factors.
• Consumption of 10 drinks per weeks was associated with the longest survival, a mean of 3,381 days after HF diagnosis.