Cargando…
Psychotropic drug use and alcohol consumption among older adults in Germany: results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults 2008–2011
OBJECTIVES: The use and combined use of psychotropic drugs and alcohol among older adults is a growing public health concern and should be constantly monitored. Relevant studies are scarce in Germany. Using data of the most recent national health survey, we analyse prevalence and correlates of psych...
Autores principales: | , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
BMJ Publishing Group
2016
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5073532/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27855095 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012182 |
_version_ | 1782461594862616576 |
---|---|
author | Du, Yong Wolf, Ingrid-Katharina Knopf, Hildtraud |
author_facet | Du, Yong Wolf, Ingrid-Katharina Knopf, Hildtraud |
author_sort | Du, Yong |
collection | PubMed |
description | OBJECTIVES: The use and combined use of psychotropic drugs and alcohol among older adults is a growing public health concern and should be constantly monitored. Relevant studies are scarce in Germany. Using data of the most recent national health survey, we analyse prevalence and correlates of psychotropic drug and alcohol use among this population. METHODS: Study participants were people aged 60–79 years (N=2508) of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults 2008–2011. Medicines used during the last 7 days were documented. Psychotropic drugs were defined as medicines acting on the nervous system (ATC code N00) excluding anaesthetics (N01), analgesics/antipyretics (N02B), but including opiate codeines used as antitussives (R05D). Alcohol consumption in the preceding 12 months was measured by frequency (drinking any alcohol-containing beverages at least once a week/a day) and quantity (alcohol consumed in grams/day; cut-offs: 10/20 g/day for women/men defining moderate and risky drinking). SPSS complex sample module was used for analysis. RESULTS: 21.4% of study participants use psychotropic medications, 66.9% consume alcohol moderately and 17.0% riskily, 51.0% drink alcohol at least once a week and 18.4% daily, 2.8% use psychotropic drugs combined with daily alcohol drinking. Among psychotropic drug users, 62.7% consume alcohol moderately, 14.2% riskily. The most frequently used psychotropic medications are antidepressants (7.9%) and antidementia (4.2%). Factors associated with a higher rate of psychotropic drug use are female sex, worse health status, certified disability and polypharmacy. Risky alcohol consumption is positively associated with male sex, smoking, upper social class, better health status, having no disability and not living alone. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the high risk of synergetic effects of psychotropic drugs and alcohol, a substantial part of older psychotropic drug users consume alcohol riskily and daily. Health professionals should talk about the additional health risks of alcohol consumption when prescribing psychotropic drugs to older adults. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5073532 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2016 |
publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-50735322016-11-07 Psychotropic drug use and alcohol consumption among older adults in Germany: results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults 2008–2011 Du, Yong Wolf, Ingrid-Katharina Knopf, Hildtraud BMJ Open Epidemiology OBJECTIVES: The use and combined use of psychotropic drugs and alcohol among older adults is a growing public health concern and should be constantly monitored. Relevant studies are scarce in Germany. Using data of the most recent national health survey, we analyse prevalence and correlates of psychotropic drug and alcohol use among this population. METHODS: Study participants were people aged 60–79 years (N=2508) of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults 2008–2011. Medicines used during the last 7 days were documented. Psychotropic drugs were defined as medicines acting on the nervous system (ATC code N00) excluding anaesthetics (N01), analgesics/antipyretics (N02B), but including opiate codeines used as antitussives (R05D). Alcohol consumption in the preceding 12 months was measured by frequency (drinking any alcohol-containing beverages at least once a week/a day) and quantity (alcohol consumed in grams/day; cut-offs: 10/20 g/day for women/men defining moderate and risky drinking). SPSS complex sample module was used for analysis. RESULTS: 21.4% of study participants use psychotropic medications, 66.9% consume alcohol moderately and 17.0% riskily, 51.0% drink alcohol at least once a week and 18.4% daily, 2.8% use psychotropic drugs combined with daily alcohol drinking. Among psychotropic drug users, 62.7% consume alcohol moderately, 14.2% riskily. The most frequently used psychotropic medications are antidepressants (7.9%) and antidementia (4.2%). Factors associated with a higher rate of psychotropic drug use are female sex, worse health status, certified disability and polypharmacy. Risky alcohol consumption is positively associated with male sex, smoking, upper social class, better health status, having no disability and not living alone. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the high risk of synergetic effects of psychotropic drugs and alcohol, a substantial part of older psychotropic drug users consume alcohol riskily and daily. Health professionals should talk about the additional health risks of alcohol consumption when prescribing psychotropic drugs to older adults. BMJ Publishing Group 2016-10-10 /pmc/articles/PMC5073532/ /pubmed/27855095 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012182 Text en Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/ This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
spellingShingle | Epidemiology Du, Yong Wolf, Ingrid-Katharina Knopf, Hildtraud Psychotropic drug use and alcohol consumption among older adults in Germany: results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults 2008–2011 |
title | Psychotropic drug use and alcohol consumption among older adults in Germany: results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults 2008–2011 |
title_full | Psychotropic drug use and alcohol consumption among older adults in Germany: results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults 2008–2011 |
title_fullStr | Psychotropic drug use and alcohol consumption among older adults in Germany: results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults 2008–2011 |
title_full_unstemmed | Psychotropic drug use and alcohol consumption among older adults in Germany: results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults 2008–2011 |
title_short | Psychotropic drug use and alcohol consumption among older adults in Germany: results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults 2008–2011 |
title_sort | psychotropic drug use and alcohol consumption among older adults in germany: results of the german health interview and examination survey for adults 2008–2011 |
topic | Epidemiology |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5073532/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27855095 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012182 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT duyong psychotropicdruguseandalcoholconsumptionamongolderadultsingermanyresultsofthegermanhealthinterviewandexaminationsurveyforadults20082011 AT wolfingridkatharina psychotropicdruguseandalcoholconsumptionamongolderadultsingermanyresultsofthegermanhealthinterviewandexaminationsurveyforadults20082011 AT knopfhildtraud psychotropicdruguseandalcoholconsumptionamongolderadultsingermanyresultsofthegermanhealthinterviewandexaminationsurveyforadults20082011 |