Table 2.
Characteristics of participants 50 years of age and older in each alcohol use category at baseline.
| Lifetime Abstainers Percent (n) or Mean (SE) | Former Drinkers Percent (n) or Mean (SE) | Infrequent Drinkers Percent (n) or Mean (SE) | Moderate Drinkers Percent (n) or Mean (SE) | Heavy Drinkers Percent (n) or Mean (SE) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age in years | 67 (0.61) | 67 (0.39) | 64 (0.28) | 62 (0.29)a,b,c,d | 60 (0.48) |
| Gender | |||||
| Men | 24.4 (140) | 38.0 (441) | 43.9 (646) | 53.3 (753)a,b,c,d | 72.8 (251) |
| Women | 75.6 (569) | 62.0 (682) | 56.1 (931) | 46.8 (732) | 27.2 (93) |
| Marital status | |||||
| Married | 60.1 (326) | 63.1 (573) | 66.9 (896) | 78.4 (1017)a,b,c | 73.9 (212) |
| Not married | 39.9 (383) | 36.9 (550) | 33.1 (681) | 21.6 (467) | 26.1 (132) |
| Educational attainment | |||||
| <12 years | 56.4 (429) | 54.7 (654) | 46.8 (764) | 31.2 (506) | 42.0 (151) |
| 12 years | 11.2 (64) | 12.5 (119) | 12.9 (194) | 15.1 (217) | 13.2 (44) |
| >12 years | 32.5 (211) | 32.9 (347) | 40.3 (617) | 53.6 (761) | 44.8 (149) |
| Household income | |||||
| Lower | 32.7 (279) | 29.5 (400) | 20.8 (420) | 10.8 (224)a,b,c | 17.6 (72) |
| Middle/higher | 67.4 (380) | 70.6 (667) | 79.2 (1081) | 89.2 (1187) | 82.4 (258) |
| Smoking status | |||||
| Never | 71.7 (499) | 38.9 (422) | 37.5 (567) | 29.3 (422)a,b | 11.7 (42) |
| Former | 17.0 (127) | 39.5 (463) | 42.2 (667) | 48.7 (722) | 48.5 (161) |
| Current/occasional | 11.3 (81) | 21.7 (238) | 20.3 (342) | 22.1 (341) | 39.8 (141) |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 25.9 (0.32) | 26.0 (0.18) | 26.2 (0.14) | 25.8 (0.12) | 26.3 (0.32) |
| Physical activity (kcal/kg/day) | 1.1 (0.08) | 1.2 (0.06) | 1.3 (0.05) | 1.7 (0.05)a,b,c | 1.5 (0.12) |
| HUI3 (range: −0.36 to 1.00) | 0.77 (0.01) | 0.73 (0.01) | 0.81 (0.01) | 0.85 (0.01)a,b,c | 0.84 (0.01) |
| Non-specific psychological distress (range: 0 to 24) | 3.1 (0.22) | 3.4 (0.16) | 2.8 (0.10) | 2.5 (0.09)b | 2.8 (0.26) |
| Perceived social support (range: 0 to 4) | 3.7 (0.04) | 3.6 (0.03) | 3.7 (0.03) | 3.7 (0.03) | 3.6 (0.07) |
| # medications (range: 0 to 11) | 1.9 (0.09) | 2.3 (0.08) | 1.9 (0.05) | 1.7 (0.05)b | 1.6 (0.09) |
| # potentially life threatening chronic conditions (range: 0 to 5) | 0.6 (0.05) | 0.6 (0.03) | 0.5 (0.02) | 0.4 (0.02)a,b | 0.4 (0.04) |
| # other chronic conditions (range: 0 to 9) | 1.0 (0.07) | 1.3 (0.05) | 1.0 (0.04) | 1.0 (0.03)b | 0.8 (0.07) |
| Church attendance (range: 1 “not at all” to 5 “once a week”) | 3.7 (0.08) | 3.1 (0.07) | 3.1 (0.06) | 2.8 (0.06)a,b,d | 2.2 (0.10) |
Mean and proportion differences for
a
lifetime abstainers,
b
former drinkers,
c
infrequent drinkers, and
d
heavy drinkers were compared to moderate drinkers using multinomial regression. Significance levels were adjusted for family-wise error using Bonferroni method. HUI3: Health Utilities Index Mark 3