Moderate average drinkers worried about respectability – not health

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Moderate average drinkers worried about respectability – not health

Middle-aged drinkers consider that it is important to drink appropriately at their age or stage of life, which allows them to cope with their responsibilities and avoid obvious signs d & # 39; drunkenness.

New research has revealed that the respectability and companionship of others, rather than health, lead to the drinking habits of middle-aged people who do not have a problem with alcohol.

Researchers from the University of Adelaide found that drinkers aged 30 to 65 years considered it was important to drink appropriately at their age or stage of life, which makes them allowed to discharge their responsibilities and to avoid obvious signs of drunkenness.

Posted in BMC Public Health Journal, the study also found that gender played a role in what was considered acceptable consumption, some drinks being considered more appropriate for women and others for men. Drinking at home was associated with women, while drinking in public was associated with men.

Dr. Paul Grinzi, a general practitioner specializing in addiction, was not surprised by the results.

"If we think of a lot of public health measures, this generation did not grow up with these messages that were broadcast in the media," he said. newsGP. "Things like skin care, alcohol, tobacco, it's a recent generation [who were exposed to it] than the average age cohort.

"Given that alcohol is so pervasive in our culture in Australia, I am not surprised that other factors come into play in accounting for water use."

Dr. Paul Grinzi says that patients are likely to resist behavior change advice unless health professionals can link the complaint to the alcohol.

The authors of the study analyzed 13 articles, including nine from the UK, on ​​alcohol consumption and its experience in a population with moderate middle-aged drinkers.

The authors warned that, since most of the studies reviewed in the review were conducted in the UK, the possibility of generalizing results to other countries may be limited.

However, Dr. Grinzi stated that while there are slight differences in UK consumption culture, the main messages of the study are applicable in Australia. He said general practitioners need to understand that people's consumer behavior will not focus solely on health reasons, but also on social aspects.

"We have to explore some of the other reasons why people will drink before people can change their behavior," he said.

Dr. Grinzi stated that general practitioners must ensure that they regularly monitor their adult patients and offer appropriate counseling.

"As GPs, we need to be careful that people are reluctant to counsel behavior change unless they see it as relevant. Linking their complaint with alcohol can be a good solution, "he said.

"So it is possible that the patient with psoriasis is undergoing a push when he drinks, whether it is the patient suffering from osteoporosis who is at risk of falling, the hypertensive patient who is not well controlled because of alcohol, this could be the patient suffering from depression and anxiety, whose symptoms have erupted after alcohol.

Co-author of the study, Emma Muhlack, said that decision-making processes related to alcohol consumption of middle-aged drinkers were little known.

"The results of this study help us better understand how alcohol enters their daily lives and what factors must be taken into account in trying to reduce alcohol consumption in this group," she said.

"It is surprising that health does not take into account how this group thinks about its consumption.

"When they think about health, they use their own experiences as a reference – [for example] what you feel when you drink too much – rather than the guidelines of health organizations. "

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