Changes in alcohol consumption during a ten-year follow-up among Finnish men aged 55-74 years.

Drinking patterns, changes in alcohol consumption from 1974 to 1984 and socioeconomic, social, health and health-related variables associated with changes were studied in a male cohort born 1900-1919 and living either in eastern or in southwestern Finland. The average alcohol consumption and drinking pattern did not change to any significant extent among these Finnish men with increasing age, though some individual changes happened. Most aging or aged Finnish men did not react to social stressors or worsening of health by changing alcohol consumption.