ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2020
Cross-country and historical variation in alcohol consumption among older men and women: Leveraging recently harmonized survey data in 21 countries.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Demographic variation in weekly alcohol use across countries in the Global Flourishing Study.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Aged female and male C57BL/6J mice have reduced alcohol self-administration and altered acute alcohol withdrawal compared to younger animals.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Article
- Recent drinking in alcohol use disorder as a modifiable risk factor of postural tremor and instability in mild cognitive impairment: An initial study.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2025Article
- A Narrative Review of Alcohol Prevention Interventions Among Older Adults.Alcohol research : current reviews · 2025Review
- The Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism: Overview.Genes, brain, and behavior · 2023Review
- Association of alcohol use with memory decline in middle-aged and older Chinese: a longitudinal cohort study.BMC psychiatry · 2022Article
- Prenatal and adolescent alcohol exposure programs immunity across the lifespan: CNS-mediated regulation.Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2022Review
- Article
- Physical Activity and Diet in a Global Pandemic: An Investigation of the Impact of COVID-19 on Factors Relevant for Musculoskeletal Health at Two Different Stages of the Lifecourse.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Article
- Alcohol and drug consumption among motor vehicle drivers in the Brittany region of France: A 9-year cross-sectional population study.Preventive medicine reports · 2021Article
- Alcohol and the Risk of Injury.Nutrients · 2021Review
- Cross-country differences in age trends in alcohol consumption among older adults: a cross-sectional study of individuals aged 50 years and older in 22 countries.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2021Observational
- Alcohol consumption predicts incidence of depressive episodes across 10 years among older adults in 19 countries.International review of neurobiology · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlcohol consumption causes greater harm in older than younger adults. As the population ages, understanding cross-country and time-varying drinking patterns of older adults is of critical importance. Available evidence relies primarily on ecological data.
methodsWe harmonized survey data for 179,881 adults age 50+ observed repeatedly between 1998 and 2016 in 21 countries. Next, we estimated historical variation in consumption across countries (overall and stratified by gender and age group 50-64/65+).
resultsOn average, 51.95 % of older adults consumed any alcohol over the observed period. For 13 countries, the proportion of older adults who drink increased (mean annual increase: 0.76 percent points). Heavy drinking (men drinks/day>3 or binge>5, women drinks/day>2 or binge>4) peaked at 23.54 % for England in 2010 and lifetime abstainers at 69.65 % for China in 2011. Across countries and among drinkers, consumption frequency was 2.57 days/week, the number of standard drink units when drinking was 2.57, and the average number of drinks/day over a week was 1.12. Consumption patterns varied substantially across countries and historical time. Overall probability and frequency of consumption were higher in men than women, with the largest gaps observed in 2011 for China, but gender gaps decreased (even reversed) in the young old and varied across country and time.
conclusionsWide variation in older adults' alcohol consumption across countries and time suggests that broad scale prevention and intervention efforts can be harnessed for potential population-level health benefits. Further variation by gender and age reflect physiological and social factors simultaneously shaping alcohol consumption.
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