title: Alcohol consumption, medical conditions, and health behavior in older adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine associations between drinking patterns, medical conditions, and behavioral health risks among older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analyses compared survey participants (health plan members ages 65 to 90, N = 6662) who drank moderately to those who drank over recommended limits or did not drink.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overlimit drinking was associated with smoking; not trying to eat low-fat foods (in men), and lower BMI (in women). Predictors of not drinking during the prior 12 months included ethnicity, lower education, worse self-reported health, diabetes and heart problems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Significant relationships exist between health and alcohol consumption patterns, which vary by gender.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. dereks@lppi.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Derek D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Satre
authors.forename: Nancy P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: Constance
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Weisner
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D004041:Dietary Fats; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats