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Change and Stability in Quantity and Frequency of Alcohol Use Among Aging Males: a 19–year follow‐up study
Author(s) -
STALL RON
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
british journal of addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0952-0481
DOI - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1986.tb00365.x
Subject(s) - demography , alcohol consumption , gerontology , medicine , prospective cohort study , psychology , alcohol , surgery , sociology , biochemistry , chemistry
Summary This report describes prospective data from a 19–year follow‐up of a general household sample of San Francisco (California) white males as these men moved towards ‘old age’. Only minor changes were noted in frequency of use while important decreases were discovered in the heavier quantity levels upon follow‐up. Men who changed consumption patterns over time were approximately twice as likely to decrease as increase at follow‐up. These findings are directly relevant to the interpretation of the consistent cross‐sectional finding of decrease in heavy drinking and associated alcohol‐related problems among older age strata when these strata are compared to younger cohorts.