Alcohol Consumption among the Elderly Citizens in Hungary and Serbia—Comparative Assessment

Studies in the alcohol consumption area are mostly related to the (ab)use of alcohol in young people. However, today, a growing number of researchers are emphasizing the clinical and public health significance of alcohol consumption in the elderly. In the WHO reports, harmful alcohol consumption is responsible for 5.3% of the global burden of the disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of alcohol consumption among men and women aged 55 and over in Serbia and Hungary, leveraging data from the 2013 Serbian National Health Survey and from the 2014 Hungarian National Health Survey. Respondents aged 55 and over were analysed based on logistic multivariate models. The prevalence of alcohol consumption was 41.5% and 62.5% in Serbia and Hungary, respectively. It was higher among men in both countries, but among women, it was significantly higher in Hungary than in Serbia. The statistically significant predictors affecting alcohol consumption in Serbia included age, education, well-being index, long-term disease and overall health status, with marital status being an additional factor among men. In Hungary, education and long-term disease affected alcohol consumption in both sexes, while age and employment were additional factors among women. In both countries for both sexes, younger age, more significantly than primary education and good health, was associated with a higher likelihood of alcohol consumption.