Authors: Emily Loscalzo Robert C Sterling Stephen P Weinstein Brooke Salzman
Publish Date: 2017/02/08
Volume: 29, Issue: 6, Pages: 1149-1155
Abstract
With the “Baby Boomer” generation reaching older adulthood substance abuse treatment providers find themselves needing to address the unique needs of this population Heavy drinking in adults ages 65 and over is strongly correlated with depression anxiety decreased social support and poor health However while alcohol misuse has been shown to be predictive of a lower quality of life in older adults the generalizability of these findings to urban dwelling lower socioeconomic status individuals remains unclearSubjects were 249 individuals 44 male who voluntarily completed measures of quality of life QOL depression and substance abuse Measures used included the Psychological General WellBeing Schedule the Geriatric Depression Scale15 and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test AUDITAlcohol or substance abuse was reported by over 20 of respondents with 34 of respondents engaged in maladaptive alcohol use Scores on the AUDIT were predictive of increased depression r = − 209 p = 01 anxiety r = − 201 p = 002 lower general wellbeing r = − 154 p = 019 and decreased selfcontrol r = − 157 p = 017All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards
Keywords: