Villiers-Tuthill Amanda, Copley Antoinette, McGee Hannah, Morgan Karen
Department of Psychology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
PU-RCSI School of Medicine, Perdana University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
BMC Public Health. 2016 Jul 22;16:627. doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-3158-y.
Health behaviour patterns in older groups, including tobacco and alcohol use, are key factors in chronic disease prevention. We explore ageing self-perceptions as motivating factors behind smoking and drinking alcohol in older adults, and the complex reasons why individuals engage harmfully in these behaviours.
Cigarette and alcohol use was assessed in a large cross-sectional national sample aged 50 years and above from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) (n = 6,576). The Brief Ageing Perceptions Questionnaire (BAPQ) assessed individual's views of their own ageing across five domains. Study hypothesis that stronger beliefs on each of the BAPQ domains would be related to drinking and smoking was examined using multinomial logit models (MNLM). Regression parameter estimates for all variables were estimated relative risk ratios (RRR).
More women were non-drinkers (30 % vs. 20 %) and men displayed significantly higher alcohol use patterns. One in five older Irish adults was a current smoker (16.8 % of women, 17 % of men), and smoking and harmful drinking were strongly associated (P < .001). Some domains of ageing perceptions were significantly associated with harmful drinking and smoking. While the risk of being be harmful drinker decreased with stronger beliefs about the positive consequences of ageing (RRR 0.89), it increased with higher scores on both emotional representation and control positive domains. Greater awareness of ageing and stronger emotional reaction to ageing increased likelihood of smoking. A greater sense of control over the outcomes of ageing was associated with increased risk of both harmful drinking (RRR control positive 1.16) and smoking (RRR control and consequences negative 1.25). This suggests optimistic bias in relation to perceived health risk from smoking and harmful drinking as a potential adverse effect of perceptions of control. Risks of concurrent smoking and harmful drinking increased with chronic awareness of ageing (RRR 1.24), and negative emotional responses to it (RRR 1.21), and decreased with stronger perceptions of the positive consequences of ageing (RRR 0.85).
The relationship between ageing perceptions, smoking and drinking is complex. Altering perceptions of ageing may be a useful intervention target aimed at facilitating engagement in preventative health behaviours in older people.
老年群体的健康行为模式，包括吸烟和饮酒，是慢性病预防的关键因素。我们探讨老年人对衰老的自我认知，将其作为老年人吸烟和饮酒背后的驱动因素，以及个体有害地参与这些行为的复杂原因。
在爱尔兰老龄化纵向研究（TILDA）中，对年龄在50岁及以上的大型全国性横断面样本（n = 6576）进行了吸烟和饮酒情况评估。简短衰老认知问卷（BAPQ）从五个领域评估了个体对自身衰老的看法。使用多项logit模型（MNLM）检验了研究假设，即BAPQ每个领域中更强的信念与饮酒和吸烟有关。所有变量的回归参数估计值为相对风险比（RRR）。
不饮酒的女性更多（30%对20%），男性的饮酒模式显著更高。五分之一的爱尔兰老年成年人是当前吸烟者（女性为16.8%，男性为17%），吸烟与有害饮酒密切相关（P <.001）。衰老认知的一些领域与有害饮酒和吸烟显著相关。虽然随着对衰老积极后果的信念增强，成为有害饮酒者的风险降低（RRR为0.89），但在情感表达和控制积极领域得分越高，风险增加。对衰老的更多认识和对衰老更强的情感反应增加了吸烟的可能性。对衰老结果的更强控制感与有害饮酒（RRR控制积极为1.16）和吸烟（RRR控制和后果消极为1.25）的风险增加有关。这表明，作为控制感认知的潜在不利影响，在吸烟和有害饮酒的感知健康风险方面存在乐观偏差。同时吸烟和有害饮酒的风险随着对衰老的长期认知（RRR为1.24）以及对其的负面情绪反应（RRR为1.21）而增加，随着对衰老积极后果的更强认知而降低（RRR为0.85）。
衰老认知、吸烟和饮酒之间的关系很复杂。改变对衰老的认知可能是一个有用的干预目标，旨在促进老年人参与预防性健康行为。
