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Alcohol use and reported physician visits in older adults
1Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA.
Background:
In general, older adults use a greater proportion of health care services than other age segments of the population. Alcohol abusers also use a greater proportion of health care services than alcohol nonabusers. Therefore we expected that among older adults, alcohol consumption would be positively related to health service use. In a sample of older adults, this study examined the relationship between alcohol consumption and an indicator of health service use--the self-reported number of physician visits.
Methods:
Data obtained on adult participants in the 1990 National Health Interview Survey, age 60 and older (n = 10,522), were examined. The number of physician visits was regressed on health status and alcohol consumption measures.
Results:
Counter to a priori expectations, alcohol consumption was negatively associated with physician visits. This finding was obtained after adjusting for respondent sex and health status measures.
Conclusions:
Other research suggests that the rates of alcohol-related hospital admissions among older adults are on par with those of myocardial infarctions--an indication that harmful use of alcohol in older adults is going undetected. We found heavier alcohol consumption associated with fewer physician visits. This underscores the need for a better understanding of the role alcohol serves in the health perceptions of older adults. Broadening our knowledge in this area would be of benefit not only to the well-being of individuals also for health services policy considerations.