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It is estimated that more than one in 65 adults aged 65 and over in the United States is an excessive drinker, study published online July 31 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society indicated.
"Occasional drinkers were more likely to be men, had a higher prevalence of current smoking and / or cannabis use, and a lower prevalence of at least two chronic diseases compared to occasional non-drinkers." ", wrote Benjamin H. Han, MD, MPH, of the New York University School of Medicine, New York, and his colleagues.
Studies have shown that unhealthy alcohol consumption is increasing among older adults. In addition to being a risk factor for many health problems, unhealthy alcohol consumption also has important consequences for public health.
Han and his colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study to estimate the prevalence of excessive alcohol consumption in older American adults and to examine factors that may increase the risk of this behavior.
They examined data from 10,927 US adults aged 65 and over who participated in the US national survey on drug use and health from 2015 to 2017.
Researchers focused on participants' responses to alcohol consumption and heavy drinking in the past month. To define the excessive consumption of alcohol, the researchers used the definition of the NIAAA (National Institute for Combating Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) consisting of consuming five or more drinks at the same opportunity for men and four or more for women.
More than 1 in 10 respondents (10.6%, 95% confidence interval) [CI], 9.9% – 11.2%) were current heavy drinkers.
Excessive drinkers were more likely than non-drinkers to be men (58.3%, 95% CI, 54.3% – 62.1%) and to have used other drugs. substances, such as tobacco (21.1%, 95% CI, 18.8% -23.6%) or cannabis (5.5%, 95% CI, 4.3% -7.1%), last month.
Occasional drinkers were also less likely to have two or more chronic conditions (29.0%, 95% CI, 25.4% – 32.8%). The most common chronic diseases among heavy drinkers were hypertension (41.4%), cardiovascular disease (23.1%) and diabetes (17.7%).
In multivariate badysis, researchers adjusted their factors according to age, race or ethnicity, income, education, status in addiction, mental health and emergencies in the last year. Occasional drinkers were more likely to be non-Hispanic African-Americans than whites (adjusted prevalence rate). [aPR]1.44; 95% CI, 1.16 – 1.80), to consume tobacco (aPR, 1.52, 95% CI, 1.33 to 1.74), to use cannabis (aPR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.80) and to have visited the emergency department over the last year (APR, 1.16, 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.33) .
In contrast, occasional heavy drinking was less prevalent among women than men, among college-educated people at the high school level, and those with two or more chronic conditions compared to those who did not. were less than two.
The authors note that the reduced prevalence of excessive alcohol consumption in adults with more chronic diseases reflects findings reported in previous studies. This is probably due to selection bias that occurs in alcohol consumption observational studies because people tend to stop drinking as the severity of their illness increases.
"It's what's called the" hypothesis of the " sick nurse, "write Han and colleagues," in which alcohol may have contributed to poor health and, therefore, selection biases prompting researchers to compare a population of older healthy drinkers with non-alcoholics. unhealthy drinkers ".
The authors point out the need for clinicians to badess the behavior of excessive occasional alcohol consumption, particularly in older patients who may not be aware of the badociated health risks , low risk consumption limits established by the NIAAA or interactions between alcohol and prescription drugs.
"[I]This is the time to advocate for more effective ways of education, testing and intervention to prevent alcohol-related harm in older people, "they conclude.
The study was funded by the National Institute for Combating Drug Abuse and the National Institute for Combating Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The authors did not reveal any relevant financial relationship.
J Am Geriatr Soc. Posted online July 31, 2019. Summary
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