This study examined changes in drinking behavior after age 50 and baseline personal characteristics and subsequent life events associated with different alcohol-consumption trajectories during a 14-year follow-up period.
Overall, alcohol consumption declined. However, rates of decline differed appreciably among sample persons, and for a minority, alcohol consumption increased. Persons with increasing consumption over time were more likely to be affluent (relative-risk ratio [RRR] = 1.09, 95% CI [1.05, 1.12]), highly educated (RRR = 1.20, 95% CI [1.09, 1.31]), male, White (RRR = 3.54, 95% CI [1.01, 12.39]), unmarried, less religious, and in excellent to good health.
A history of problem drinking before baseline was associated with increases in alcohol use, whereas the reverse was true for persons with histories of few or no drinking problems.
There are substantial differences in drinking trajectories at the individual level in midlife and late life. A problem-drinking history is predictive of alcohol consumption patterns in later life.
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