Backround: Alcohol consumption is recognized as a public health issue. Study objectives were to identify factors predictive of alcohol consumption among elderly people in Phayao province Thailand, where there was high prevalence of alcohol consumption.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Four hundred elderly people participated in a survey. Data was collected by face-to-face interviews. Chi-square and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine the factors predictive of alcohol consumption among the study subjects.
Results: One thirds of elderly (31.7%) had consumed alcohol in their lifetime, and (15.7%) of them were current drinkers. Following univariate analysis, seven factors included gender, working, sickness, smoking, quality of life (QOL), daily activities and economic recession - were identified as being significantly associated with drinking (p<0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed four factors to be predictive of alcohol among elderly people: gender (OR=6.02, 95% CI=3.58-10.13), smoking (OR=4.34, 95% CI=2.57-7.34), economic recession (OR=2.79, 95%, CI=1.66-4.71), and QOL (OR=1.86, 95%, CI=1.09-3.16).
Conclusions: Gender (male) and smoking were strongly predictive factors of elderly alcohol consumption. Hence, an effort to reduce alcohol consumption should be placed on male elderly and those who smoke.
Keywords: Predictive factors; alcohol consumption; elderly people.