Skip to main content

Alcohol Consumption, Medical Conditions, and Health Behavior in Older Adults

Buy Article:

$39.00 + tax (Refund Policy)

Objectives : To examine associations between drinking patterns, medical conditions, and behavioral health risks among older adults.

Methods : Analyses compared survey participants (health plan members ages 65 to 90, N = 6662) who drank moderately to those who drank over recommended limits or did not drink.

Results : Overlimit drinking was associated with smoking; not trying to eat low-fat foods (in men), and lower BMI (in women). Predictors of not drinking during the prior 12 months included ethnicity, lower education, worse self-reported health, diabetes and heart problems.

Conclusions : Significant relationships exist between health and alcohol consumption patterns, which vary by gender.

Keywords: alcohol; behavioral health risks; ethnicity; gender; obesity; older adults

Document Type: Research Article

Publication date: 01 May 2007

More about this publication?
  • The American Journal of Health Behavior seeks to improve the quality of life through multidisciplinary health efforts in fostering a better understanding of the multidimensional nature of both individuals and social systems as they relate to health behaviors.

    The Journal aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of personal attributes, personality characteristics, behavior patterns, social structure, and processes on health maintenance, health restoration, and health improvement; to disseminate knowledge of holistic, multidisciplinary approaches to designing and implementing effective health programs; and to showcase health behavior analysis skills that have been proven to affect health improvement and recovery.

  • Editorial Board
  • Information for Authors
  • Submit a Paper
  • Subscribe to this Title
  • Review Board
  • Reprints and Permissions
  • Ingenta Connect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites
  • Access Key
  • Free content
  • Partial Free content
  • New content
  • Open access content
  • Partial Open access content
  • Subscribed content
  • Partial Subscribed content
  • Free trial content