Association between Drinking Behavior and Activities of Daily Living in Community-dwelling Older Adults

As the elderly are more vulnerable to drinking than young adults, elucidation of the relationship between drinking habits of old age and ADL is an important issue from the perspective of public health science. This study explores the relationship between drinking habits of the elderly and impaired Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and provides basic materials to prevent impaired ADL in the old age. This study analyzed a total of 4,134 elderly people over the age of 65 who participated in 2011 Korean Longitudinal Survey of Aging. Drinking habits were classified into 'no drinking (no drinking experience in lifetime)', 'past drinking (have drinking experience in the past but presently do not drink)' and 'currently drinking'. ADL were classified into ‘normal group’ and ‘Impaired ADL group’. To compare the relationship between alcohol drinking and impaired ALD, the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were presented using hierarchical logistic regression. As the result of multivariate analysis (adjusted model), even after all confounding variables were adjusted, drinking had significant relationship with ADL impairment. Past drinkers has 6 times more risk of ADL impairment (OR=5.86, 95% CI: 3.07-11.19) than nondrinkers and current drinkers 4 times more risk (OR=3.94, 95% CI: 2.08-7.48) (p<0.05). As drinking in old age is associated with impaired ADL, moderation is required on drinkers for healthy aging.