• JoAnn E Kirchner, Cynthia Zubritsky, Marisue Cody, Eugenie Coakley, Hongtu Chen, James H Ware, David W Oslin, Herman A Sanchez, U Nalla B Durai, Keith M Miles, Maria D Llorente, Giuseppe Costantino, and Sue Levkoff.
• VA South Central Mental Illness Research Education and Clinic Center, Little Rock, AR, USA. kirchnerjoanne@uams.edu
• J Gen Intern Med. 2007 Jan 1;22(1):92-7.

BackgroundAlcohol misuse is a growing public health concern for older adults, particularly among primary care patients.ObjectivesTo determine alcohol consumption patterns and the characteristics associated with at-risk drinking in a large sample of elderly primary care patients.DesignCross-sectional analysis of multisite screening data from 6 VA Medical Centers, 2 hospital-based health care networks, and 3 Community Health Centers.ParticipantsPatients, 43,606, aged 65 to 103 years, with scheduled primary care appointments were approached for screening; 27,714 (63.6%) consented to be screened. The final sample of persons with completed screens comprised 24,863 patients.MeasurementsQuantity and frequency of alcohol use, demographics, social support measures, and measures of depression/anxiety.ResultsOf the 24,863 older adults screened, 70.0% reported no consumption of alcohol in the past year, 21.5% were moderate drinkers (1-7 drinks/week), 4.1% were at-risk drinkers (8-14 drinks/week), and 4.5% were heavy (>14 drinks/week) or binge drinkers. Heavy drinking showed significant positive association with depressive/anxiety symptoms [Odds ratio (OR) (95% CI): 1.79 (1.30, 2.45)] and less social support [OR (95% CI): 2.01 (1.14, 2.56)]. Heavy drinking combined with binging was similarly positively associated with depressive/anxiety symptoms [OR (95%): 1.70 (1.33, 2.17)] and perceived poor health [OR (95% CI): 1.27 (1.03, 1.57)], while at-risk drinking was not associated with any of these variables.ConclusionsThe majority of participants were nondrinkers; among alcohol users, at-risk drinkers did not differ significantly from moderate drinkers in their characteristics or for the 3 health parameters evaluated. In contrast, heavy drinking was associated with depression and anxiety and less social support, and heavy drinking combined with binge drinking was associated with depressive/anxiety symptoms and perceived poor health.

22 keywords...

hide…