Wine Information Council
3 october 2014
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Patterns of alcohol consumption in the older population of Spain, 2008-2010

BACKGROUND: Older adults are a growing segment of the European population and alcohol is an important cause of disease burden; thus, it is noteworthy that little information is available on alcohol intake among older adults in Europe.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine alcohol consumption patterns and their association with demographic and clinical variables in the older population of Spain.

DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional study.

PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: The sample included 3,058 individuals, representative of the Spanish population aged >/=60 years during 2008-2010.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Regular alcohol consumption was measured with a validated diet history questionnaire. The threshold between moderate and heavy drinking was >/=40 g alcohol/day in men (>/=24 g in women). Binge drinkingBinge drinking (consuming rapidly four or more alcoholic drinks over a short period of time) has bee... was defined as intake of >/=80 g alcohol in men (>/=60 g in women) during any drinking occasion in the previous month, and problem drinking by a CAGE score >/=2.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS PERFORMED: The prevalence and 95% CI of the drinking patterns were calculated after accounting for sampling design.

RESULTS: The prevalence of moderate drinking was 44.3% (95% CI 42.0% to 46.6%) and of heavy drinking was 7.8% (95% CI 6.7% to 8.9%). In total, 68.4% (95% CI 65.7% to 71.2%) of individuals obtained >80% of alcohol from wine and 61.8% (95% CI 58.9% to 64.6%) drank only with meals. Furthermore, 1% (95% CI 0.6% to 1.4%) showed binge drinking and 3.1% (95% CI 2.3% to 3.8%) showed problem drinking. Heavy alcohol consumption was significantly more frequent in men. Moderate alcohol consumption was significantly less frequent among women, persons who were not married, living alone, with a diagnosis of diabetes, receiving treatment for diabetes, and with suboptimal self-rated health. About 5% to 10% of individuals with diagnosed hypertension, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease showed heavy drinking. Among those taking sleeping pills or antidiabetes or antithrombotic treatment, 37% to 46% had moderate alcohol intake and 5% to 8% had heavy intake.

CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol consumption among older adults in Spain is frequent and mostly consistent with the traditional Mediterranean drinking patternThe Mediterranean diet, which includes moderate consumption of wine, is considered .... However, a proportion of individuals were heavy drinkers and used medication that may interact with alcohol.

Additional Info

  • Authors

    Leon-Munoz L.M.; Galan I.; Donado-Campos J.; Sanchez-Alonso F.; Lopez-Garcia E.; Valencia-Martin J.L.; Guallar-Castillon P.; Rodriguez-Artalejo F.

  • Issue

    J Acad.Nutr.Diet. 2014 Oct 3. pii: S2212-2672(14)01317-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2014.08.017. [Epub ahead of print]

  • Published Date

    3 october 2014

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