Moderate alcohol intake is associated with survival in the elderly: the Dubbo Study.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relationship between alcohol intake and survival in elderly people.


METHODS
A prospective study over 116 months of non-institutionalised subjects living in Dubbo, a rural town (population, 34,000) in New South Wales.


METHODS
1235 men and 1570 women aged 60 years and over who were first examined in 1988-89.


METHODS
All-causes mortality; gross cost of alcohol per life-year gained.


RESULTS
Death occurred in 450 men and 392 women. Intake of alcohol was generally moderate (i.e., less than 14 drinks/week). Any intake of alcohol was associated with reduced mortality in men up to 75 years and in women over 64 years. In a proportional hazards model, the hazard ratio for mortality in men taking any alcohol was 0.63 (95% CI, 0.47-0.84) and in women was 0.75 (95% CI, 0.60-0.94). Cardiovascular deaths in men were reduced from 20/100 (95% CI, 14-26) to 11/100 (95% CI, 9-13) and in women from 16/100 (95% CI, 13-19) to 8/100 (95% CI, 6-10). The reduction in mortality occurred in men and women taking only 1-7 drinks/week--hazard ratios, 0.68 (95% CI, 0.49-0.94) and 0.78 (95% CI, 0.61-0.99), respectively, with a similar protective effect from intake of beer or other forms of alcohol. After almost 10 years' follow-up, men taking any alcohol lived on average 7.6 months longer, and women on average 2.7 months longer, compared with non-drinkers. The gross cost for alcohol per life-year gained if consuming 1-7 drinks/week was $5700 in men, and $19,000 in women.


CONCLUSIONS
Moderate alcohol intake in the elderly appears to be associated with significantly longer survival in men 60-74 years and in all elderly women.
Simons
L A
LA
University of New South Wales Lipid Research Department, St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, NSW. l.simons@notes.med.unsw.edu.au
McCallum
J
J
Friedlander
Y
Y
Ortiz
M
M
Simons
J
J
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis