Alcohol consumption, medical conditions, and health behavior in older adults.
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.
Satre
Derek D
DD
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. dereks@lppi.ucsf.edu
Gordon
Nancy P
NP
Weisner
Constance
C
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
D004041:Dietary Fats