TY - JOUR
T1 - The association between alcohol use and long-term care placement among older Canadians
T2 - A 14-year population-based study
AU - Kaplan, Mark S.
AU - Huguet, Nathalie
AU - Feeny, David
AU - McFarland, Bentson H.
AU - Caetano, Raul
AU - Bernier, Julie
AU - Giesbrecht, Norman
AU - Oliver, Lisa
AU - Ramage-Morin, Pamela
AU - Ross, Nancy A.
N1 - Funding Information:
The National Institute on Aging grant AG33796 supported the preparation of this work and the research described herein. All analyses, interpretations, and conclusions based on the analysis of these data are solely the responsibility of the authors.
PY - 2014/1
Y1 - 2014/1
N2 - Studies have shown that moderate alcohol use confers protection against some of the dominant predictors of long-term care placement, including diminished cognitive functioning, physical disability, and injury. But little is known about the association between alcohol use and the likelihood of placement in long-term care facilities. A nationally representative sample of 5404 community-dwelling Canadians ages 50. years and older at baseline (1994/95) was obtained from the longitudinal National Population Health Survey. Alcohol use categories were developed based on the quantity and frequency of use in the 12. months before the interview. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the association between alcohol use at baseline and subsequent placement in long-term care facilities after adjusting for covariates measured at baseline. During the 14-year follow-up period, 14% of lifetime abstainers, 10% of former drinkers, 7% of infrequent drinkers, 4% of moderate drinkers, and 3% of heavy drinkers were placed in long-term care facilities. Furthermore, the multivariate analysis revealed that abstainers, former drinkers, and infrequent drinkers were more than twice as likely to be placed in long-term care as moderate drinkers. Moderate drinking was protective against placement in long-term care facilities even after adjusting for an array of well-known confounders. The strong protective effect of moderate alcohol use on long-term care entry is likely due to a complex mix of physical, cognitive and psychosocial health factors.
AB - Studies have shown that moderate alcohol use confers protection against some of the dominant predictors of long-term care placement, including diminished cognitive functioning, physical disability, and injury. But little is known about the association between alcohol use and the likelihood of placement in long-term care facilities. A nationally representative sample of 5404 community-dwelling Canadians ages 50. years and older at baseline (1994/95) was obtained from the longitudinal National Population Health Survey. Alcohol use categories were developed based on the quantity and frequency of use in the 12. months before the interview. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the association between alcohol use at baseline and subsequent placement in long-term care facilities after adjusting for covariates measured at baseline. During the 14-year follow-up period, 14% of lifetime abstainers, 10% of former drinkers, 7% of infrequent drinkers, 4% of moderate drinkers, and 3% of heavy drinkers were placed in long-term care facilities. Furthermore, the multivariate analysis revealed that abstainers, former drinkers, and infrequent drinkers were more than twice as likely to be placed in long-term care as moderate drinkers. Moderate drinking was protective against placement in long-term care facilities even after adjusting for an array of well-known confounders. The strong protective effect of moderate alcohol use on long-term care entry is likely due to a complex mix of physical, cognitive and psychosocial health factors.
KW - Alcohol
KW - Long-term care placement
KW - Older adult
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U2 - 10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.09.031
DO - 10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.09.031
M3 - Article
C2 - 24169370
AN - SCOPUS:84890197835
SN - 0306-4603
VL - 39
SP - 219
EP - 224
JO - Addictive Behaviors
JF - Addictive Behaviors
IS - 1
ER -