Alcohol as Analgesic: Older Drinkers Numb the Pain

Many
older adults suffer from pain and a significant proportion
have unhealthy alcohol use. To examine the relationship
between pain and alcohol problems among the elderly, researchers
studied 401 community-dwelling older adults (aged 62-72
years) at baseline and 3 years later.

• At
  baseline, a greater proportion of problem drinkers*
  than nonproblem drinkers reported moderate to very severe
  pain (about 43% versus 30%) and functional impairment
  from pain (about 33% versus 18%).
• A
  greater proportion of problem drinkers used alcohol
  to manage pain (about 38% versus 14%). These proportions
  were higher among those with moderate to very severe
  pain (about 58% versus 21%).
• Baseline
  use of alcohol to manage pain predicted more chronic
  health problems and injuries in men and more drinking
  problems in women at the 3-year follow-up, particularly
  among those with more alcohol problems at baseline.

Comments:

Older
adults, especially those with drinking problems, often
use alcohol to manage pain. Besides the immediate dangers
of mixing alcohol with nonsteroidal and opioid analgesics,
using alcohol to manage pain increases the risk of poor
health in the future. This study suggests that clinicians
need to ask patients with problem drinking about pain
and ask patients with pain about alcohol use; counsel
both groups about the risks of using alcohol as an analgesic;
and help them find safer, more effective methods of pain
relief.

Peter D. Friedmann, MD, MPH

Reference:

Brennan
PL, Schutte KK, Moos RH. Pain and use of alcohol to manage
pain: prevalence and 3-year outcomes among older problem
and non-problem drinkers. Addiction. 2005;100(6):777-786.