Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 1 of 1
Community prevalence of alcohol use and concomitant use of medication - a source of possible risk in the elderly aged 75 and older?
- Authors:
- AIRA Marja, HARTIKAINEN Sirpa, SULKAVA Raimo
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20(7), July 2005, pp.680-685.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This study explores alcohol use and concomitant use of prescription and over the counter (OTC) medicines in people aged 75 years or over. The study used a community-based randomized survey of home-dwelling older people in the City of Kuopio, Finland. A random sample of 700 persons aged 75 years or over was used, of whom 601 participated (86%). Only 523 home-dwellers were included in this study. Of the participants, 44% used alcohol. Most alcohol drinkers used medications on a regular basis (86.9%) or as needed (87.8%), among them medicines known to have some potential interactions with alcohol. Elevated mean corpuscular volume was more widespread among alcohol drinkers than non drinkers. The authors conclude theoretical risks posed by alcohol use are not minimal in the older elderly, though the quantity of alcohol use is not considerable. Physicians and nurses should pay attention to chronic diseases and medications when counselling aged people about alcohol consumption. The question of clinical importance of alcohol-medication interactions needs to be studied further.