Association between the amount of alcohol intake and masseter muscle activity levels recorded during sleep in healthy young women.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine if the amount of alcohol intake is associated with masseter muscle activity recorded during sleep. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty healthy young female subjects (average age, 23.0 +/- 1.9 years; range, 21 to 32 years) participated in the study. Subjects were asked to perform 6 consecutive nightly masseter electromyography (EMG) recordings by using a portable EMG recording system in their homes. Using a minimum threshold criterion, which was set at 20% of the maximum voluntary contraction level, the total duration of muscle activity per hour of sleep was calculated. EMG data obtained on the first night were excluded from the analysis to avoid the first-night effect, and the data of the remaining 5 nights were averaged. Further, the subjects were asked to fill out questionnaires regarding their daily alcohol intake during the recording period. The total ethanol content of the consumed alcohol was calculated using a standard conversion table for alcoholic beverages. The ethanol concentration of each type of alcohol was multiplied by the reported amount consumed on each day, and the average value for 5 days was calculated. The EMG data were considered as a dependent variable, while the alcohol data were considered as an independent variable. Linear regression analysis was used to assess a possible association between these variables. RESULTS: The subjects who did not consume alcohol during the recording period (n = 28) or who provided incomplete data sets as a result of missing data (n = 9) were excluded. The data of the remaining 23 subjects (n = 23) were exclusively analyzed. The result of this analysis revealed that the total ethanol content of the consumed alcohol was significantly and positively related to the EMG duration variable (coefficient = 0.51, 95% confidence interval: 0.20 to 0.82, adjusted R2 = 0.33, P < .01). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the amount of alcohol intake is substantially associated with masseter muscle activity levels during sleep in young women.