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.

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; Hahm, Bong-Jin

<bold>Purpose: </bold>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.<bold>Methods: </bold>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.<bold>Results: </bold>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).<bold>Conclusions: </bold>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.

SOUTH Korea; ALCOHOLISM; PSYCHOLOGICAL distress; ALCOHOL drinking; OLDER people; MENTAL health screening; CENTENARIANS; ALCOHOLIC beverages; ADULTS

Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2020, Vol 55, Issue 10, p1335

0933-7954

Academic Journal

10.1007/s00127-020-01845-5