Prevalence and correlates of alcoholism in community-dwelling elderly living in São Paulo, Brazil.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence of alcoholism in elderly living in the city of São Paulo (Brazil) and investigate associated risk factors.


METHODS
A total of 1,563 individuals aged 60 years or older, of both genders of three districts of different socioeconomic classes (high, medium and low) in the city of São Paulo (Brazil) were interviewed. The CAGE screening test for alcoholism was applied and a structured interview was used to assess associated sociodemographic and clinical factors. The tests Mini Mental State Examination, Fuld Object Memory Evaluation, The Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly and Bayer-Activities of Daily Living Scale were used for cognitive and functional assessment.


RESULTS
Prevalence of alcoholism was 9.1%. Multivariate regression analysis showed that alcoholism was associated with male gender, 'mulatto' ethnicity, smoking, and cognitive and functional impairment. In addition, the younger the individual and the lower the schooling level, the higher the risk for alcoholism.


CONCLUSIONS
The results obtained in this study show that alcoholism is highly frequent in the community-dwelling elderly living in São Paulo, and that it is associated with socio-demographic and clinical risk factors similar to those reported in the literature. This suggests that alcoholism in the elderly of a developing country shares the same basic characteristics seen in developed countries. These findings suggest that it is essential for health services and professional to be prepared to meet this demand that will significantly grow in the next years, especially in developing countries, where the rates of population aging are higher than those of developed countries.
Hirata
Edson Shiguemi
ES
Old Age Research Group (PROTER), Institute of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil. hirataes@uol.com.br
Nakano
Eduardo Yoshio
EY
Junior
Jony Arrais Pinto
JA
Litvoc
Júlio
J
Bottino
Cássio M C
CM
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D003906:Developing Countries; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires