New research suggests that older people who are "aging successfully" are more likely to drink at harmful levels than their less successful peers, The Spirits Business reported.
Successful agers are defined as people over the age of 50 years who are healthy, active, sociable, and well off. Researchers found that harmful drinking is a "middle class phenomenon" which may be a hidden health and social problem in otherwise successful older people, warn the researchers, who call for explicit guidelines on alcohol consumption for this group.
"Our findings suggest that harmful drinking in later life is more prevalent among people who exhibit a lifestyle associated with affluence and with a 'successful' aging process," researchers said in a study.
For the study, researchers collected and analyzed data from more than 9,000 people from those aged 50 and older living independently at home in England.
They found that the risk of harmful drinking peaked for men in their early 60s and then gradually tailed off, whereas for women risky drinking fell in tandem with age. These patterns suggest that the current group of over 50s may be carrying on levels of higher consumption developed in their younger years, in later life, say the researchers.
Income was associated with a higher risk, but only among women, while smoking, higher educational attainment, and good health were all linked to heightened risk in both sexes.
Researchers also found that higher risk of harmful drinking was not linked to feelings of loneliness or depression, but it was more likely among men living on their own, including those who were separated/divorced. And it was more common among men of white ethnicity.
"Harmful drinking may then be a hidden health and social problem in otherwise successful older people," researchers warned. "Consequently, and based on our results, we recommend the explicit incorporation of alcohol drinking levels and patterns into the successful ageing paradigm."
The findings are detailed in the journal BMJ Open.
