Is regular drinking in later life an indicator of good health? Evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Older people who drink have been shown to have better health than those who do not. This might suggest that moderate drinking is beneficial for health, or, as considered here, that older people modify their drinking as their health deteriorates. The relationship between how often older adults drink and their health is considered for two heath states: self-rated health (SRH) and depressive symptoms.

Methods

Data were analysed from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), a prospective cohort study of older adults, using multilevel ordered logit analysis. The analysis involved 4741 participants present at wave 0, (1998/1999 and 2001), wave 4 (2008/2009) and wave 5 (2010/2011). The outcome measure was frequency of drinking in last year recorded at all three t

SUBMITTER: Holdsworth C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4975801 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature