Alcohol consumption and self-rated health among older people in Sweden

Over the past decades, alcohol consumption has increased in the older population in Sweden, but few studies have investigated the association between alcohol consumption and self-rated health in this group. The objective of a study was therefore to investigate alcohol consumption and self-rated health among older Swedes.
The study was based on a cross-sectional study of 11,716 men and women, 65 years and over, answering a survey questionnaire sent to a random population sample in mid-Sweden in 2012. Alcohol consumption was assessed with AUDIT-C and its association with self-rated health using logistic regression analysis, adjusting for age, economic situation, educational level, BMI, physical activity, social support and medication use.
Men (83%) were more likely to drink alcohol compared to women (71%). The prevalence of risk
drinking was about 2% for both genders. Alcohol consumption declined with age. Moderate consumption of alcohol was associated with lower probability of poor self-rated health compared to non-drinking with an adjusted odds ratio 0.64 (95% confidence interval: 0.54-0.76) for men and 0.68 (0.59-0.79) for women.
The authors qualify their findings commenting that since the study was cross-sectional the direction of the association could not be determined, and the results should not be interpreted as an argument for promoting alcohol consumption among older people.
Source: Alcohol consumption and self-rated health among older people: population-based study in Sweden. Lindström J, Hellström C, Simonsson B, Molarius A. J Public Health (Oxf). 2019 Dec 10. pii:
fdz168.