title: Prevalence and correlates of at-risk drinking among older adults: the project SHARE study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  At-risk drinking, excessive or potentially harmful alcohol use in combination with select comorbidities or medication use, affects about 10% of elderly adults and is associated with higher mortality. Yet, our knowledge is incomplete regarding the prevalence of different categories of at-risk drinking and their associations with patient demographics.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the prevalence and correlates of different categories of at-risk drinking among older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional analysis of survey data.
  
  
  METHODS
  Current drinkers ages 60 and older accessing primary care clinics around Santa Barbara, California (n = 3,308).
  
  
  METHODS
  At-risk drinkers were identified using the Comorbidity Alcohol Risk Evaluation Tool (CARET). At-risk alcohol use was categorized as alcohol use in the setting of 1) high-risk comorbidities or 2) high-risk medication use, and 3) excessive alcohol use alone. Adjusted associations of participant characteristics with at-risk drinking in each of the three at-risk categories and with at-risk drinking of any kind were estimated using logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over one-third of our sample (34.7%) was at risk. Among at-risk individuals, 61.9% had alcohol use in the context of high-risk comorbidities, 61.0% had high-risk medication use, and 64.3% had high-risk alcohol behaviors. The adjusted odds of at-risk drinking of any kind were decreased and significant for women (odds ratio, OR = 0.41; 95% confidence interval: 0.35-0.48; p-value < 0.001), adults over age 80 (OR = 0.55; CI: 0.43-0.72; p < 0.001 vs. ages 60-64), Asians (OR = 0.40; CI: 0.20-0.80; p = 0.01 vs. Caucasians) and individuals with higher education levels. Similar associations were observed in all three categories of at-risk drinking.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High-risk alcohol use was common among older adults in this large sample of primary care patients, and male Caucasians, those ages 60-64, and those with lower levels of education were most likely to have high-risk alcohol use of any type. Our findings could help physicians identify older patients at increased risk for problems from alcohol consumption.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services, School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, P.O. Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA. abarnes2@gmail.com
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: Alison A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Haiyong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ang
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tallen
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mirkin
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Ettner
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking
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