Objectives To assess patterns of alcohol consumption in people with and without diabetes. Methods Location was a large Aboriginal community in southeast Queensland. Participants with diagnosed diabetes were identified through the hospital database (49 women, 38 men), and never-diagnosed participants recruited through random household sampling (62 women, 55 men). Alcohol consumption patterns were ascertained by questionnaire. Results Overall, 56% of participants consumed alcohol. On average alcohol was consumed only twice per week, but the number of drinks consumed per drinking day was high (17; range: 3.5-20). Compared with never- diagnosed participants, participants with diabetes were less likely to drink (women RR=0.3, 95%CI 0.2-0.5; men RR=0.7, 95%CI 0.5-0.9), drank less per week (ANOVA: women 9.4 versus 34.4, pConclusions People with diabetes are less likely than others to drink, and those who do drink consume fewer drinks on a day when they drink, suggesting they have modified their behaviour based on health advice. However, the overall quantity consumed in all groups remains high, at levels considered risky and high-risk in both the short- and long-term. Implications Given the diabetes and cardiovascular implications of heavy short-term and long-term alcohol use, specific patterns of alcohol use by people with diabetes should be assessed further to develop strategies to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed on a drinking day
