Educating seniors with personalised information about their drinking and health can effectively reduce their alcohol consumption and other drinking risks. Although drinking tends to decline with age, many older adults drink more than the recommended amounts. It is well known that even relatively low levels of alcohol can cause adverse health effects in the elderly because of age-related physiological changes and because alcohol interacts with common medications and medical conditions. Researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, conducted a study in which they analysed the effects of providing physicians and patients with reports on patient's alcohol use and of drinking risks and benefits. The investigators compared two experimental groups and one control group. Altogether, they studied 23 physicians and 665 patients 65 years of age or older. In the combined report group, 6 physicians and 212 patients received reports of patients' alcohol use, risks and problems. Patients also received education based on their reports. In the patient report group, 245 patients received reports and education, but their 5 physicians did not receive any reports. In the third group, the control group, patients received usual care. The investigators measured reductions in hazardous drinking (risks for problems), harmful drinking (presence of problems), and maintenance of non-hazardous drinking (no known risks for problems), at the beginning of the study and 12 months later, using a classification system known as Computerised Alcohol-Related Problems Survey. The study showed that patients in the patient report group decreased their harmful drinking by 23 percent and increased their non-hazardous drinking by 12 percent. Patients in the combined report group decreased their drinking by more than one drink per week on average, and improved their drinking habits. These results suggest that providing elderly patients with personalised reports of their drinking habits, together with educational information, can reduce their harmful drinking and increase non-hazardous drinking patterns. Providing similar information to physicians can also be effective in decreasing patient's total alcohol consumption, but it is not more effective than providing reports only to patients.
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society,
December 2005