Alcohol use among abused and non-abused older persons aged 60-84 years: An European study

Aims: Describing alcohol use by abuse type (e.g. psychological) and considering other factors (e.g. depression). Methods: The respondents were 4467 (2559 women, 57.3%) randomly selected elders (60-84 years) from seven European cities. The cross-sectional data were collected with scales covering various areas and examined with bivariate/multivariate methods. Findings: Psychologically abused elders were more often alcohol users than non-users (21.7% vs. 16.3%) and the opposite regarding financially abused elders (4.8% vs. 3.5%). Psychologically abused elders also had more often three or more drinks containing alcohol in a drinking day (21.1% vs. 16.1%) and six or more drinks on one occasion (24.5% vs. 18.3%). Psychological abuse, demographics/socio-economics (e.g. education), smoking and leisure activities were positively associated alcohol use, and being from certain countries (e.g. Italy), age (e.g. 80-84 years), depression and financial abuse negatively. Conclusions: Across countries, 64.2% of the elders were drinkers. Some variables (e.g. psychological abuse) were positively related to alcohol use and others (e.g. depression) negatively. Many of the elders were exposed to abuse. Our findings may be useful to prevent/manage drinking and abuse among elders. However, alcohol use was influenced by various factors that need to be further elucidated, particularly the relation between abuse and drinking.