Alcohol and older people. The European project VINTAGE: good health into older age. Design, methods and major results.

OBJECTIVES: The European project VINTAGE - Good Health Into Older Age aims at filling the knowledge gap and building capacity on alcohol and the elderly, encouraging evidence- and experience-based interventions. METHODS: Systematic review of scientific literature on the impact of alcohol on older people; ad hoc survey and review of grey literature to collect EU examples of good practices for prevention; dissemination of findings to stakeholders involved in the field of alcohol, aging or public health in general. RESULTS: Design and procedures of the VINTAGE project are described, providing also an outline of major results, with particular attention to those related to the dissemination activity. CONCLUSIONS: Much more information and research is needed. This issue should be part of both alcohol and healthy ageing policies.

Good practices for the prevention of alcohol harmful use amongst the elderly in Europe, the VINTAGE project.

INTRODUCTION: There is a lack of information about initiatives aimed at preventing the harmful effects of alcohol amongst the elderly. OBJECTIVES: One of the objectives of the VINTAGE study was to collect the initiatives carried out in Europe and review the published grey literature about this topic. METHODS: Email-based survey addressed to researchers, professionals and policymakers, and internet search of grey literature. RESULTS: Three hundred nine contacts were finally made, and 21 of the 36 collected initiatives were considered as useful in preventing the harmful use of alcohol amongst the elderly. Out of the about 2900 references identified 96 were classified as relevant. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a growing interest, alcohol use in the elderly is not yet perceived as a major issue for prevention.

Beyond drinking: differential effects of demographic and socioeconomic factors on alcohol-related adverse consequences across European countries.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Evidence underlines the importance of drinking patterns and individual characteristics in experiencing adverse alcohol-related consequences; however, little research has been conducted to explore who does and who does not experience consequences with similar drinking patterns. Using data from seven European countries, this study assesses the association between demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and six adverse consequences. METHODS: Conditional logistic regression models were estimated, cases (experiencing a consequence) being matched to controls (not experiencing the consequence) by drinking patterns. RESULTS: In general, protective effects with increasing age and being in a partnership were consistent. Gender effects were mixed, but mainly protective for women. Educational achievement and economic status showed consistent effects across countries, but different directions of effect across consequences. Consequences mostly associated with individual drinking pattern (injury, blackout, and loss of control over drinking) exhibited similar patterns of associations, but varying ones arose for consequences additionally influenced by societal reaction to drinking (guilt, role failure, and pressure to cut down drinking). CONCLUSION: Differences in strengths and directions of effects across consequences pointed to the possibility that the reporting of adverse consequences is not only influenced by alcohol consumption, but also by attributional processes related to demographic and socioeconomic statuses.

Relationship between negative experiences and drinking experience among 15- to 16-year-old adolescents in Finland.

AIMS: To assess the relationship between negative experiences and frequency of alcohol drinking and drunkenness among 15- to 16-year-old adolescents in Finland. METHODS: A school-based survey as part of the European School Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) conducted in Finland in 2003. Nationally representative sample of Finnish adolescents, aged 15-16 (n = 3,321). Response rate 92%. Negative experiences, alcohol use and drunkenness were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between negative experiences and drinking experience. RESULTS: Prevalence of negative experiences increased with increased frequency of drinking and drunkenness. Certain harms (troubles with the police, engaging in regretted and unprotected sexual intercourse) were experienced primarily with frequent drinking and drunkenness (>20 occasions). Logistic regression analysis indicated that only the drunkenness-related drinking style was significantly related to troubles with the police and engaging in sexual intercourse regretted the next day. CONCLUSIONS: While under-aged youths experience many problems in relationship to their alcohol use, certain problems are highly associated with frequent and heavy drinking, especially with drunkenness-related drinking style. These findings should be acknowledged when implementing effective alcohol education and alcohol-related policies to reduce under-aged alcohol use and related harms.

The reliability of self-reported drinking in adolescence.

AIMS: To study the reliability of adolescents' self-reported drinking and perceived drunkenness in surveys. METHODS: The data from two cross-sectional school-based questionnaire surveys with representative cluster samples (the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs, ESPAD) in Finland were used; there were 2161 (1995) and 3109 (1999) 15-year-old respondents. The response rates were 94% and 90% respectively. The measurements analysed were an open-ended and a set of closed-category questions concerning the latest drinking occasion. RESULTS: The set of three closed questions used in 1995 yielded mean amounts of 6.6 (girls) and 8.7 (boys) centilitres of pure alcohol whereas the figures obtained from the open question were 8.5 (girls) and 11.8 (boys) centilitres. With the closed set extended in 1999 into five questions, the two figures among girls were 7.7 (closed) and 7.7 (open) centilitres; the corresponding figures among boys were 11.3 (closed) and 11.7 (open) centilitres. Individual level correlations between the two measures among girls were 0.69 in 1995 and 0.69 in 1999; and 0.69 (1995) and 0.65 (1999) among boys. The numbers of students reporting specific beverage type use were higher when using closed questions compared with an open question. Drunkenness self-reports related logically to amounts of alcohol drunk. CONCLUSIONS: The adolescent drinking amount self-reports seem reasonably reliable and valid both on a population and individual level. A set of closed questions may capture the amount drunk even better than an open question.

Gender Differences in Drinking Patterns in Nine European Countries: Descriptive Findings.

Gender differences in drinking patterns in nine European countries (the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Scotland, Sweden, and Switzerland) were examined using data from surveys conducted in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Drinking patterns were analyzed with regard to sociodemographic variables such as age, education, employment, marital status, and parenthood. Age was closely related to drinking in every society, but the patterns were different in different societies. Women with higher education tended to consume more alcohol than women with lower education in many societies, whereas a similar pattern was not found among men. Unemployment seemed to be more strongly related to women's drinking than to that of men. Divorced men consistently consumed the most alcohol in every country. Parenthood was profoundly and consistently associated across societies with women's monthly consumption and prevalence of heavy drinking.

Women's Roles and Women's Drinking: A Comparative Study in Four European Countries.

The present study analyzes the influence of role combinations on heavy drinking in four European countries: Finland, France, Germany, and Switzerland. Data sets come from nationally representative surveys. A growing number of studies have investigated the influence of social roles on alcohol consumption. Different theories such as role accumulation, role overload, and role deprivation aim to explain the association between roles and poor mental health, including heavy alcohol consumption. The results show that roles and role combinations influence heavy drinking differently in each country. The findings also indicate that the social position of women in a country is strongly connected to the differing associations between specific role combinations and heavy drinking across countries. No single role theory can be applied cross-culturally. Large-scale surveys are needed to test statistically the association between role combinations and heavy drinking.