ELDERLY ALCOHOLISM: CONSUMPTION PATTERNS AND DEMOGRAPHIC
The purpose of this research was to determine the alcohol consumption levels of a sample of females ages 65 through 76. Further, the research examined whether consumption levels were systematically associated with differences in females' marital status, age, educational level, or yearly income. An examination was also conducted to determine whether alcohol usage differed as a function of significant interactions between marital status, age, educational level, or yearly income.
The rationale for the study was based on the fact that existing research indicated that the degree of alcoholism in elderly populations may be under-estimated due to older alcoholics tendencies to lie about the problem, the failure of assessment instruments to adequately detect older drinkers, and the tendency on the part of physicians not to refer this population to treatment. These facts highlighted the need for repeated assessment of drinking patterns in older populations.
Demographic factors were selected for exploration because current research supported the notion that among older people, alcohol abuse and dependence tends to be related to their circumstances, e.g. living on a fixed income, married, etc.
Thus, it seemed reasonable to explore these factors for their contribution to the levels of alcohol consumption found in sample subjects.
The study was restricted to females because research indicated that elderly women tend to be more prone to lie about drinking and may, therefore, may comprise a substantial portion of the elderly population that lie about their drinking behavior. However, examination of females' scores on the MMPI L scale indicated that they were honest in reporting their perceived levels of alcohol usage.
A series of one and two-way analyses of variance were conducted on data. Only one finding was observed to be significant; this was a significant mai...