Alcohol consumption and self-rated health among older people: population based study in Sweden

The association between alcohol consumption and with self-rated health was analysed among a representative sample of older people in mid-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 aim was therefore to investigate alcohol consumption and self-rated health among older Swedes.
The cross-sectional study included 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.
Source: Lindström J, Hellström C, Simonsson B, Molarius A. Alcohol consumption and self-rated health among older people: population-based study in Sweden. J Public Health (Oxf). 2020 Nov 23;42(4):756-765.