Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T23:44:03.308Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Correlates of lifetime alcohol misuse among older community residents in Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2009

Sergio Luís Blay ,
Gerda G. Fillenbaum ,
Sergio Baxter Andreoli  and
Fábio Leite Gastal
Sergio Luís Blay*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of São Paulo, (Escola Paulista de Medicina – UNIFESP), Brazil
Gerda G. Fillenbaum
Affiliation:
Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center, and Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
Sergio Baxter Andreoli
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of São Paulo, (Escola Paulista de Medicina – UNIFESP), Brazil
Fábio Leite Gastal
Affiliation:
Medical University of Minas Gerais/UFMG; Project Scientific Committee, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr. Sergio Luís Blay, Department of Psychiatry – UNIFESP, R. Botucatu, 740 CEP 04023–900, Sâo Paulo – SP, Brazil. Phone/Fax +55–11-3816–1030. Email: [email protected].
Get access

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the sociodemographic correlates and health effects associated with lifetime alcohol misuse in community dwelling elderly people in Brazil.

Method: Data were obtained from a representative sample of 6961 residents aged 60+ in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The structured interview included a five-item lifetime alcohol use questionnaire addressing abuse and dependence, and questions regarding sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle and social support, and health conditions.

Results: In the interview, 10.6% respondents (25.3% men, 2.9% women) endorsed at least one lifetime alcohol misuse question. Controlled analyses comparing a gradient of alcohol misuse (none, one or more than one item endorsed), found that men, people aged 60–69 (compared to older persons) and tobacco users were more likely to endorse alcohol misuse items. Persons reporting lower income and who were of non-white race/ethnicity did not differ from their comparison groups with respect to endorsing one item, but they were more likely to endorse two or more items. Endorsing more than one item was associated with impaired activities of daily living, the presence of respiratory problems and psychiatric disorders, but was protective against vascular conditions.

Conclusions: Major lifetime alcohol misuse (defined as endorsing more than one of five items reflecting alcohol abuse or dependence) is more common in certain sociodemographic groups (men, younger elderly, lower income, non-whites). With the exception of vascular conditions, it is associated with smoking, poorer functional status, respiratory problems, and psychiatric disorder. Endorsing only one item has a reduced association, significant only for male gender, smoking, and psychiatric disorder.

Keywords

prevalencelifetime alcohol useelderlyhealth conditions
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , April 2009 , pp. 384 - 391
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Almeida Filho, N. et al. (2004). Alcohol drinking patterns by gender, ethnicity, and social class in Bahia, Brazil. Revista de Saúde Pública, 38, 45–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-IV (4th edn). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Barros, M. B. A., Botega, N. J., Dalgalarrondo, P., Marín-León, L. and de Oliveira, H. B. (2007). Prevalence of alcohol abuse and associated factors in a population-based study. Revista de Saúde Pública, 41, 502–509.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beckett, M., Weinstein, M., Goldman, N. and Yu-Hsuan, L. (2000). Do health interview surveys yield reliable data on chronic illness among older respondents? American Journal of Epidemiology, 151, 315–323.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blay, S. L., Ramos, L. R. and Mari, J. J. (1988). Validity of a Brazilian version of the Older Americans Resources and Services (OARS) mental health screening questionnaire. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 36, 687–692.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blay, S. L., Andreoli, S. B., Fillenbaum, G. G. and Gastal, F. L. (2007). Depression morbidity in later life: prevalence and correlates in a developing country. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 15, 790–799.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cawthon, P. M. et al. (2007). Alcohol use, physical performance, and functional limitations in older men. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 55, 212–220.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chou, S. P., Grant, B. F. and Dawson, D. A. (1996). Medical consequences of alcohol consumption – United States, 1992. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 20, 1423–1429.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conselho Estadual do Idoso (1997). Os idosos do Rio Grande do Sul: Estudo Multidimensional de suas Condições de Vida. Relatório de Pesquisa. Porto Alegre: Conselho Estadual do Idoso.Google Scholar
Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association (1996). Alcoholism in the elderly. JAMA, 275, 797–801.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galduróz, J. C.F. and Carlini, E. A. (2007). Use of alcohol among the inhabitants of the 107 largest cities in Brazil, 2001. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, 40, 367–375.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldstein, B. I., Herrmann, N. and Shulman, K. I. (2006). Comorbidity in bipolar disorder among the elderly: results from an epidemiological community sample. American Jounal of Psychiatry, 163, 319–321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodwin, F. K. and Jamison, K. R. (2007). Comorbidity. In Goodwin, F. K. and Jamison, K. R. (eds.), Manic Depressive Illness: Bipolar Disorders and Recurrent Depression. 2nd edn, New York, Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Grant, B. F. et al. (2007). DSM-IV alcohol dependence and abuse: further evidence of validity in the general population. Drug and Alcohol Dependency, 86, 154–166.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hasin, D. S. and Grant, B. F. (2004). The co-occurrence of DSM-IV alcohol abuse and DSM-IV alcohol dependence: results of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions on heterogeneity that differ by population subgroup. Archives of General Psychiatry, 61, 891–896.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hasin, D. S., Stinson, F. S., Ogburn, E. and Grant, B. F. (2007). Prevalence, correlates, disability, and comorbidity of DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence in the United States: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64, 830–842.Google Scholar
John, U. et al. (2003). Strength of the relationship between tobacco smoking, nicotine dependence and the severity of alcohol dependence syndrome criteria in a population-based sample. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 38, 606–612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, I. (2000). Alcohol problems in old age: a review of recent epidemiological research. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 15, 575–581.3.0.CO;2-0>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kessler, R. C. and Wang, P. S. (2008). The descriptive etiology of commonly occurring mental disorders in the United States. Annual Review of Public Health, 29, 115–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kyomen, H. and Liptzin, B. (1994). Alcohol abuse. In Copeland, J. R. M., Abou-Saleh, M. T. and Blazer, D. G. (eds.), Principles and Practice of Geriatric Psychiatry. (pp. 795–800). New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Laranjeira, R., Pinsky, I., Zaleski, M. and Caetano, R. (2007). I Levantamento nacional sobre os padrões deconsumo de álcool na população brasileira. Presidência da República Gabinete de Segurança Institucional Secretaria Nacional Antidrogas Brasília, DF.Google Scholar
Maher, B. S., Marazita, M. L., Zubenko, W. N., Kaplan, B. B. and Zubenko, G. S. (2002).Genetic segregation analysis of alcohol and other substance-use disorders in families with recurrent, early-onset major depression. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 28, 711–731.Google Scholar
Mendoza-Sassi, R. A. and Beria, J. U. (2003). Prevalence of alcohol use disorders and associated factors: a population-based study using AUDIT in Southern Brazil. Addiction, 98, 799–804.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Midanik, L. (1982). The validity of self-reported alcohol consumption and alcohol problems: a literature review. British Journal of Addiction, 77, 357–382.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mirand, A. L. and Welte, J. W. (1996). Alcohol consumption among the elderly in a general population, Erie County, New York. American Journal of Public Health, 86, 978–984.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (1998). Alcohol and aging. Alcohol Alert, 40. Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.Google Scholar
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (2002). Alcohol Consumption and Problems in the General Population: Findings from the 1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH Publication No.02–4997. Bethesda, MD: NIAAA.Google Scholar
Pfeiffer, E. (1979). A short psychiatric evaluation schedule: a new 15-item monotonic scale indicative of functional psychiatric disorder. In Hoffmeister, F. and Muller, C. (eds), Brain Function in Old Age (pp. 228–236). Bayer Symposium VII. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Schuckit, M. A. (2006). Comorbidity between substance use disorders and psychiatric conditions. Addiction, 101 (Suppl. 1), 76–88.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silveira, C. M., Wang, Y-P., Andrade, A. G. and Andrade, L. H. (2007). Heavy episodic drinking in the São Paulo Epidemiologic Catchment Area study in Brazil: gender and sociodemographic correlates. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 68, 18–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vicente, B. et al. (2006). Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R disorders in the Chile Psychiatric Prevalence Study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 1362–1370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed