The relationship between alcohol symptoms and consumption among older drinkers

Abstract

The present study assessed the relationship between current alco-hol symptoms and consumption levels in a heterogeneous sample of older adults. The sample consisted of 443 participants over age 55 who reported drinking within the past year, including social drinkers, alcoholics in treatment, and alcoholics not in treatment. Symptoms for the past year were assessed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS-Ill-R) alcohol section, and subjects were subse-quently assigned to two groups (symptom-free and symptomatic), depending on whether they experienced any DSM-Ill-R alcohol symptoms in the last year. For both men and women, average daily consumption and the frequency of heavy drinking contributed to whether participants had experienced any alcohol symptoms. The results indicate that the consumption levels of men and women dif-fered only for symptomatic drinkers. The findings support recom-mendations that consumption limits for older adults should be lowe