Problem drinking among residents of a VA nursing home

✍ Scribed by Carol L. Joseph; Roland M. Atkinson; Linda Ganzini

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 481 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6230
• DOI: 10.1002/gps.930100311

✦ Synopsis

The authors conducted a retrospective study of problem drinking among persons admitted to a Veterans Affairs Nursing Home Care Unit (VA NHCU). Lifetime problem drinking was prevalent in 36% of admissions, two-thirds of whom had active alcohol problems. Problem drinkers were younger and less often currently married than NHCU residents without alcohol problems. Forty-seven per cent of persons with active alcohol problems returned to independent living. The results suggest that VA NHCUs may be an important transition between hospital and home for elderly patients with alcohol problems, affording an opportunity for identification and intervention.

KEY woms-Elderly, alcohol, nursing homes.

Researchers and clinicians in the fields of substance abuse and gerontology are beginning to recognize that alcoholism is a substantial problem in the elderly. The epidemiologic catchment area studies of psychiatric disorders in community-dwelling persons identified alcohol abuseldependence as the third most common mental disorder in elderly men . Among elderly patients in clinical surveys, estimates of alcoholism range from 4% to 23% . Because alcoholism is often overlooked in older patients, these figures may underestimate the problem (Curtis et al., 1989). In a recent study of elderly Medicare recipients, rates for alcohol-related hospitalizations were similar to those for myocardial infarction .

Very little information is published on the prevalence of alcohol problems among nursing home (NH) residents. The National Nursing Home Survey, carried out in 1985, listed alcohol abuseldependence as the primary medical diagnosis in 2.8% of community nursing home residents, but this likely underestimates the true prevalence because this sur-