Predictors of alcohol drinking among the older Chinese in Canada

Research on alcohol drinking among the older adults, particularly the ones in ethnic minority communities, is lacking. This study examined the predictors of alcohol drinking among a random sample of 2,272 older Chinese in Canada. The participants aged between 55 years and 101 years and resided in seven major Canadian cities. The findings indicated that 16.7% of the older Chinese in this study reported drinking. Logistic regression was used and age, gender, living arrangement, country of origin, income, and attitude toward aging were found to be the significant factors that increased the probability for the older Chinese to drink. Directions for practitioners working with older Chinese were discussed. KEYWORDS. Older Chinese, predictors of drinking, ethnicity, culture