Older Adults Often Exceed Alcohol Consumption Limits

Guidelines
for “safe” alcohol use among older adults recommend
daily limits (no more than 2 drinks for men and 1 drink for women),
weekly limits (no more than 14 drinks for men and 7 drinks for
women) or a combination (no more than 1 drink per day, 7 drinks
per week, or 3 drinks per drinking session, regardless of sex).
The proportion of older adults who actually exceed each of these
limits (i.e., engage in risky drinking) and experience associated
alcohol-related problems is unknown. To explore these issues, researchers
surveyed 1291 non-abstinent, community-dwelling older adults at
baseline and 10 years later.

• The
  prevalence of risky drinking differed across guidelines, ranging
  from 23% to 50% among women and from 29% to 45% among men.
• Both
  men and women who exceeded consumption limits were more likely
  to have alcohol-related problems (e.g., difficulties with relationships
  and functioning) both at study entry and follow-up. These problems
  were more prevalent in men.
• Both
  men and women reduced consumption after 10 years.
• The
  limit of no more than 7 drinks per week/3 drinks per day offered
  the best combination of sensitivity and specificity in predicting
  alcohol-related problems in both men and women. At
  this cut-off, 16% of women and 34% of men had alcohol use problems
  at follow-up.

Comments:

In this community-based sample, risky drinking (defined by specific consumption levels) was prevalent among older adults, and guideline cut-offs were associated with alcohol-related problems. Further, data from this study confirm that different consumption limits for older women and men are not justifiable.

Joseph Conigliaro, MD, MPH

Reference:

Moos RH,
Brennan PL, Schutte KK, et al. High-risk alcohol consumption
and late-life alcohol use problems. Am J Public Health.
2004;94(11):1985–1991.