Prevalence of simultaneous use of alcohol and prescription medication in older adults: findings from a cross-sectional survey (Health Survey for England 2013)

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the concurrent use of ‘at-risk’ (AR) drinking (>10 units of alcohol per week) and prescription medications, while controlling for sociodemographic, and health-related factors, among older adults (aged 65–89 years). DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Data from Health Survey of England, 2013. INTERVENTIONS: None. PARTICIPANTS: General population survey of 2169 adults aged 65–89 years. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: AR drinking (>10 units per week). Secondary outcome was AR drinking defined as >14 units of alcohol per week limit (the cut-off used by the Department of Health for AT drinking). RESULTS: Twenty-seven per cent (n=568) of the sample were AR drinkers. Factors associated with alcohol consumption were gender, age, social class, marital status, rurality of dwelling, deprivation index, self-reported general health, cigarette smoking, body mass index, exercise level, health and well-being scores’ and number of prescription drugs. Logistic regression analysis showed that males were more likely to be AR drinkers (OR 3.44, 95% CI 2.59 to 4.57, p<0.0001) than females. Each year increase in age, lowered the probability of AR drinking by a factor of 0.95 (95% CI 0.93 to 0.98, p<0.0001). Using prescription drugs reduced AR drinking by a factor of 0.92 (95% CI 0.85 to 0.93, p=0.033), after controlling for age, sex and rurality of dwelling. No other predictors were significant. Similar results were obtained for AR drinking of >14units per week. CONCLUSION: AR drinking is more likely in older men than women. The odds of AR drinking lessens, as individuals age, and using prescription drugs also reduces AR drinking.