Alcohol consumption in later life: prevalence and associated risk factors

Abstract

Background Alcohol is a legal substance, and its worldwide consumption reaches all population segments, including different social strata and age groups. In older adults, alcohol consumption represents a growing challenge for health management, as they are more susceptible to the effects of alcohol due to physiological processes. The aim of this study was to estimate the patterns of alcohol consumption and evaluate the risk factors associated with alcohol use in older adults. Methods This cross-sectional study is a part of a cohort entitled “Living conditions, health, frailty and body composition of older adults: a cohort of the Older Adult/Goiânia Project” conducted in Goiânia in the Central-West Region of Brazil from July 2018 to March 2019. To assess the information about e alcohol consumption and patterns we used the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Participants were part of a second wave of a cohort study 221 older adults were interviewed and included in this study. The dependent variable was alcohol use in lifetime and the consumption patterns were low risk/no alcohol use (0–7), risky alcohol consumption (≥8) and binge drinking pattern was defined as drinking five or more alcoholic drinks on one occasion for a man, and four or more alcoholic drinks on one occasion for a woman. Bivariate and multiple logistic regression models and crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) were calculated with their respective 95% confidence intervals. Results Of the 221 participants, 14.9% reported alcohol use in the last year. When it comes to the consumption patterns, low alcohol consumption stands out (97.3%), and binge-drinking was observed in 1.8% of the sample. Masculine gender (Adjusted OR: 2.57; 95% Cl: 1.36–4.88), secondary/higher educational level (Adjusted OR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.05–0.68), and religion protestant/evangelical (Adjusted OR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.23–0.89) were significantly associated with alcohol use. Conclusions Alcohol consumption among older adults is a cause of concern, considering that even with a small percentage of risky and binge drinking, the problems in this population are significant due to biological, social, and emotional factors relating to population aging. Also, our results can contribute to the understanding of health behaviors in older adults, according to the heterogeneity of aging. Furthermore, it can also help to improve health actions for this age group development.