Aims: (i) To examine whether mean consumption and prevalence of at-risk drinking are highly correlated across samples of older adults, and (ii) to explore whether sociodemographic and health characteristics of alcohol use differ across countries. Method: Cross-sectional surveys were conducted in four European countries, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and Portugal, applying identical data collection methods and survey instruments in general population samples of older adults aged 60 to 75 years. Alcohol consumption was measured as units of alcohol per week, which provided the basis for categorising the two outcome measures: abstention (0 units/week) and at-risk drinking (8+ units/week). Cross-tabulations and logistic regression models were estimated to examine associations between sociodemographic and health characteristics on the one hand and alcohol abstention and at-risk drinking on the other. Results: Prevalence of abstention was highest in Portugal and lowest in Denmark, whereas at-risk drinking was more prevalent in Denmark and Belgium compared to Norway and Portugal. Among country- and gender-specific samples of drinkers, there was a strong positive correlation between mean consumption and prevalence of at-risk drinkers. Female gender characterised abstention, whereas male gender characterised at-risk drinking in all four countries. Other sociodemographic characteristics and indicators of health and wellbeing were differently associated with abstention and at-risk drinking across the four countries. Conclusions: A strong regularity in the distribution of alcohol consumption was observed in the samples of older adults. Gender was the only common factor associated with drinking behaviour across the four countries.

中文翻译：

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老年人饮酒：四个欧洲国家的比较研究

目的：(i) 研究老年人样本的平均消费量和高危饮酒流行率是否高度相关，以及 (ii) 探讨不同国家酒精使用的社会人口和健康特征是否存在差异。方法：在挪威、丹麦、比利时和葡萄牙这四个欧洲国家进行横断面调查，对 60 至 75 岁的老年人的一般人群样本应用相同的数据收集方法和调查工具。酒精消耗量以每周的酒精单位来衡量，这为两种结果测量的分类提供了基础：戒酒（0 单位/周）和有风险的饮酒（8 单位/周）。估计交叉表和逻辑回归模型一方面检查社会人口学和健康特征之间的关联，另一方面检查戒酒和危险饮酒之间的关联。结果：葡萄牙的戒酒率最高，丹麦最低，而与挪威和葡萄牙相比，丹麦和比利时的饮酒风险更高。在特定国家和特定性别的饮酒者样本中，平均消费量与高危饮酒者的患病率之间存在很强的正相关关系。在所有四个国家，女性以弃权为特征，而男性以高风险饮酒为特征。其他社会人口学特征和健康和福祉指标与四个国家的戒酒和饮酒风险不同。结论：在老年人的样本中观察到酒精消费分布的强烈规律性。性别是这四个国家饮酒行为的唯一共同因素。