Park JE, Hong JP, Jeon HJ, Seong SJ, Sohn JH, Ha TH, Lee DW, Park JI, Cho SJ, Chang SM, Kim BS, Suk HW, Cho MJ, Hahm BJ. Soc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.
Affiliation
Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, 101, Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 110-744, South Korea. hahm@snu.ac.kr.
PURPOSE: To investigate age-related differences in the relationships among at-risk alcohol consumption, alcohol use disorder (AUD), and psychological distress with a special focus on older adults.
METHODS: We used a nationwide cross-sectional study of a representative sample of community-dwelling adults from the Korean Epidemiologic Catchment Area study for psychiatric disorders conducted by door-to-door interviews. The Korean version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview was applied. Subjects were categorized into four age groups: young-to-middle-aged (20-54 years), near-old (55-64 years), early-old (65-74 years), and late-old (≥ 75 years). The associations among at-risk drinking, alcohol use disorder, and psychological distress were examined according to age groups.
RESULTS: Among a total of 5102 individuals, half of them drank alcohol in the previous year, of whom 20.5% were at-risk drinkers (≥ 100 g/week). Older people were less often diagnosed with AUD than young-to-middle-aged adults with a similar degree of at-risk drinking. They were less likely to meet the DSM-5 AUD criteria in terms of social and vocational role disruption or creation of a physically hazardous situation. However, at-risk drinking showed a stronger association with subjective psychological distress in older adults, particularly in the near-old group (adjusted odds ratio 1.82, 95% confidence interval 1.09-3.03; p = 0.023).
CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate the importance of screening for mental health problems in older adults, especially near-old adults, who drink more than 100 g of alcohol per week even when they do not satisfy the criteria for a diagnosis of AUD.
Language: en
Keywords
Alcohol use disorder; At-risk drinking; DSM-5; DSM-IV; Psychological distress