Hajat Shakoor, Haines Andy, Bulpitt Christopher, Fletcher Astrid
Department of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropicla Medicine, London, UK.
Age Ageing. 2004 Mar;33(2):170-7. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afh046.
Very little work on alcohol consumption patterns in older people has been undertaken. As a result, knowledge about the prevalence and characteristics of regular drinkers and heavy drinkers in this age group remains limited.
To determine the socio-economic and health characteristics associated with different levels of alcohol intake in older people.
Detailed screening of patients in one arm of a cluster randomised trial.
53 UK general practices drawn from the Medical Research Council General Practice Research Framework.
All patients aged 75 and over on the GP lists (excluding those in nursing homes or other long stay care) were invited to participate in the study. Of the 15358 people who received a detailed assessment in the 'universal' arm, 14962 (97%) of these answered questions on alcohol consumption. Of these, 62% were female and the median age was 80.3 years.
Associations between reported alcohol intake and various socio-economic and health variables were investigated, first in univariate analyses and then controlling for other variables in logistic regression models.
5% of men and 2.5% of women exceeded the Royal College of Physicians, Psychiatrists and General Practitioners' recommended drinking limits of 21 and 14 units a week respectively; 17% of subjects had never had a drink. Women and the very elderly were less likely to be drinkers. Those that drank were more likely to be people who still had a fairly active and sociable lifestyle, and with a better self-perceived health status compared with non-drinkers. Moderate drinkers were also less likely to be severely cognitively impaired compared with non-drinkers: adjusted odds ratio 0.69 (95% CI 0.57, 0.85); but more likely to report symptoms of anxiety: 1.31 (1.07, 1.61).
Our results suggest that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with relative financial security and good health with the exception of higher levels of anxiety amongst drinkers.
针对老年人饮酒模式的研究非常少。因此，关于该年龄组中经常饮酒者和重度饮酒者的患病率及特征的了解仍然有限。
确定与老年人不同饮酒量相关的社会经济和健康特征。
对一项整群随机试验的一组患者进行详细筛查。
从医学研究理事会全科医学研究框架中选取的53家英国全科诊所。
邀请全科医生名单上所有75岁及以上的患者（不包括养老院或其他长期护理机构中的患者）参与研究。在“通用”组中接受详细评估的15358人中，有14962人（97%）回答了关于饮酒的问题。其中，62%为女性，年龄中位数为80.3岁。
首先在单变量分析中研究报告的饮酒量与各种社会经济和健康变量之间的关联，然后在逻辑回归模型中控制其他变量。
5%的男性和2.5%的女性超过了皇家内科医师、精神科医师和全科医师学院建议的每周饮酒限量，分别为21单位和14单位；17%的研究对象从不饮酒。女性和高龄老人饮酒的可能性较小。与不饮酒者相比，饮酒者更可能是仍保持相当活跃和社交生活方式且自我感觉健康状况较好的人。与不饮酒者相比，适度饮酒者严重认知障碍的可能性也较小：调整后的优势比为0.69（95%置信区间0.57, 0.85）；但更可能报告焦虑症状：1.31（1.07, 1.61）。
我们的研究结果表明，适度饮酒与相对的经济保障和良好健康状况相关，但饮酒者中焦虑水平较高。
