1. Age-related differences in the associations among at-risk drinking, alcohol use disorder, and psychological distress across the adult lifespan: a nationwide representative study in South Korea.
- Author
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Park, Jee Eun, Hong, Jin Pyo, Jeon, Hong Jin, Seong, Su Jeong, Sohn, Jee Hoon, Ha, Tae Hyon, Lee, Dong-Woo, Park, Jong-Ik, Cho, Seong-Jin, Chang, Sung Man, Kim, Byung-Soo, Suk, Hye Won, Cho, Maeng Je, and Hahm, Bong-Jin
- Subjects
ALCOHOLISM ,PSYCHOLOGICAL distress ,ALCOHOL drinking ,OLDER people ,MENTAL health screening ,CENTENARIANS ,ALCOHOLIC beverages ,ADULTS - Abstract
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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2020
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