Alcohol consumption among the elderly in a general population, Erie County, New York.

OBJECTIVES: Relatively few studies of drinking among the elderly have been completed despite the growing proportional representation of the elderly in the US population. This study sought to estimate the prevalence of and to observe whether active or health-oriented lifestyles are associated with heavy drinking among the elderly. METHODS: Random-digit dialing telephone interviews were conducted with 2325 Erie County, New York, general population residents aged 60 years or older. RESULTS: The prevalence of heavy drinking was 6%. Adjusted analyses showed positive associations between heavy drinking and being male, having suburban residency, and currently using cigarettes. Negative relationships were observed between heavy drinking and socioeconomic status, rural residency, and degree of health orientation. Age and level of active lifestyle were not significant contributors to the model. CONCLUSIONS: Of the studied variables, health orientation offers the greatest opportunity to address heavy drinking among the elderly.

Drinking, problem drinking and life stressors in the elderly general population.

OBJECTIVE: Research shows that although heavy drinking in the United States is less prevalent among older persons, some maintain or increase heavy drinking. Late-onset heavy drinking is believed to be related to stressors of aging such as retirement or bereavement, particularly when coping resources or social supports are inadequate. This study investigated that relationship. METHOD: In 1990-91, a random-digit-dial telephone survey was conducted with 2,325 Erie County, New York, residents aged 60 or older. Heavy drinkers were oversampled. Questions included demographics, drinking quantity-frequency, alcohol dependence/problems, stressful life events, chronic stresses, coping resources and social supports. Analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between drinking and stress. RESULTS: There was no bivariate correlation between average alcohol consumption and acute or chronic stress. Logistic regressions with interaction terms show that stress has no relationship to heavy drinking (average alcohol consumption of 2+ drinks/day) regardless of coping style or social supports. Logistic regressions predicting late-onset heavy drinking also produced negative results. Chronic stress was, however, positively related to alcohol dependence and problems. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment and prevention programs for the elderly should not be based on the assumption that life stresses are a direct cause of drinking, although they may exacerbate consequences of drinking.

Lifetime drinking patterns of elders from a general population survey.

A telephone survey was conducted of 2325 residents of Erie County, New York, over age 59. Late-onset heavy drinking proved to be relatively rare. Most who were heavy drinkers when younger had attenuated their drinking. Drinking patterns from earlier in life were the best predictors of current drinking, with health-oriented lifestyle showing some effect. Stress was not related to drinking among older persons.

Total body water adjustment of mean alcohol intakes.

Total body water volume (TBW) is one factor that determines the functional effect of a standard dose of alcohol. Because women and the elderly generally have lower TBW values than men and younger persons, respectively, less alcohol needs to be consumed by women and elders to achieve the same or higher blood alcohol levels compared to men and younger persons. An existing data set on elderly drinkers was analyzed with and without TBW adjustment of intakes using mean TBW estimates per decade for each gender. The estimates were obtained from a published report that pooled cross-sectional data to produce mean TBW values and TBW prediction equations applicable to Western populations. As the analyses confirm, the use of cutoff points of alcohol intake not adjusted for TBW results in drinking-level misclassification and findings biased towards younger males. This report supports the standard use of TBW-adjusted alcohol intakes in analyses of samples with both genders and/or a wide age range.