Breath alcohol elimination rate as a function of age, gender and drinking practice

The objective of this study was to determine whether breath alcohol elimination rate varies as a function of age, gender, and drinking practice, factorially combined. Eighty-four men and 84 women drank enough alcohol to produce peak BrACs of 0.110 g/210 L for heavy and moderate drinkers and BrACs of 0.090 g/210 L for light drinkers. An Intoxilyzer 5000 was used to generate the concentration-time profiles. Mean (M) elimination rates (g/210 L/h) were found to be higher for women (N = 84, M = 0.0182, SD = 0.0033) than for men (N = 84, M = 0.0149, SD = 0.0029), F(1, 144) = 57.292, p 0.001; higher for heavy drinkers (N = 56, M = 0.0176, SD= 0.0038) than for light and moderate drinkers combined (N = 112, M = 0.0160, SD = 0.0032), F(1, 144) = 12.434, p<0.01; and higher for older subjects (51–69 years, N = 42, M = 0.0180, SD = 0.0038) than younger subjects (19–50 years, N = 126, M = 0.0161, SD = 0.0033), F(1, 144) = 14.324, p<0.001. None ofthe twoway interactions (age × gender, age × drinking practice, gender × drinking practice) or the three-way interaction (age × gender × drinking practice) was statistically significant. Limitations of the current study and suggestions for further research are discussed.