title: Patterns of alcohol use in an elderly sample enrolled in the Family Health Strategy program in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil.
abstract: This article aims to determine the pattern of alcohol use in the elderly and its associations with sociodemographic characteristics in an elderly sample of patients from the city of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 557 seniors, aged 60 years or more, through application of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview and a global assessment questionnaire for the elderly. The majority of the 557 senior citizens did not complete elementary school (58.3%), were white (65.1%), married (37.6%), had no caregiver (62.2%), were catholic (65.5%) and practicing their religion (68.6%), were retired (67.7%), and had a personal income of up to one minimum salary (56.1%). The study revealed 67 (12%) elderly people with a history of alcoholism, of which 17 (3.1%) had a diagnosis of current alcoholism, 50 (9%) had a history of alcohol dependence in the past and 16 (2.9%) had a current alcohol abuse problem. Men had a prevalence ratio of 11.6 times for a history of alcoholism in comparison to women. The results confirm that alcoholism is frequent in the population of Brazilian elderly, drawing attention to some socio-demographic characteristics that can make a difference in the early diagnosis of alcoholism.
authors.affiliation: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil, brunoguidolin@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Bruno Luiz
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Guidolin
authors.affiliation: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil, brunoguidolin@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Irênio Gomes da
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Silva Filho
authors.affiliation: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil, brunoguidolin@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Eduardo Lopes
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Nogueira
authors.affiliation: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil, brunoguidolin@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Francisco Pascoal
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Ribeiro Junior
authors.affiliation: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil, brunoguidolin@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cataldo Neto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000438:Alcohols; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D000438:Alcohols