|
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
|
||
| SEARCH | SUBSCRIBE | ||
|
 |
Knowing risk factors can help identify elderly alcoholics for treatment
EurekAlert,
June 27, 2003 Less than half of alcoholics over 65 are diagnosed, a Penn State
study has shown, because often the telltale signs of alcohol dependence
are masked by patient denial and seeming good health.
Kristine E. Pringle, doctoral candidate in health policy and
administration, and Dr. Dennis Shea, professor of health policy and
administration, conducted the study.
Pringle says, "Using the risk factors we've identified in our
study, health care providers and policy makers may be better able to
target screenings and policy interventions toward the highest-risk groups
who may be systematically under-diagnosed and under-treated."
She presented the findings in a paper, "Triangulation in
Action: Prevalence and Risk Factors for Alcoholism Among Elderly Medicare
Beneficiaries," at the AcademyHealth annual meeting in Nashville,
Tenn., Friday, June 27. Her co-author is Shea, who is her dissertation
adviser.
Pringle used data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS)
and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) which each included more than
10,000 participants. No similar research has been done using these two
data sets, which enabled the Penn State researchers to examine variations
in alcoholism for both diagnosed and self-reporting elderly individuals.
The researchers found a substantial disparity between the
prevalence of diagnosed versus self-reported alcoholism (1.9 percent
versus 4.3 percent respectively). They also found significant differences
by age, gender, race, ethnicity, income, education, marital status,
depression, health status, ability to drive, region, rural/urban
residence, household composition and religiosity.
For example, those in excellent, very good or good health are
significantly more likely to have self-reported and diagnosed alcoholism
than elderly in fair or poor health.
Elderly males were significantly more likely to self-report
alcoholism than elderly females but only slightly more likely to be
diagnosed. Pringle says, "Older men are at particularly high risk for
not being diagnosed but our results also support the view that older
females may be denying a drinking problem since women are half as likely
as men to self-report but only slightly less likely to be diagnosed."
"Denial may be especially problematic for other groups,
including those with incomes greater than 200 percent of poverty and those
aged 75 and older," she adds. "In each of these groups, the
diagnosed rate is higher than the self-reported rate."
Shea notes, "The number of alcoholic elderly can be expected
to increase due to the sheer number of baby boomers entering old age. To
compound the problem, this generation has higher rates of substance abuse
than any previous generation. The costs of alcoholism and its consequences
in the elderly have the potential to create an enormous financial burden
for the Medicare program. It's imperative that both health care providers
and policy makers understand which elder groups are at risk and may be
under-diagnosed and therefore prime screening targets." Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
|
