Alcohol consumption and associated factors among middle-aged and older adults: results from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study

Background This study aimed to investigate alcohol consumption and associated factors in middle-aged and older adults. Materials and methods We included 15,942 participants (7,384 men, 8558 women) with age range of 45-101 years from the 2011 baseline survey of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Variables related to alcohol status and other potential risk factors were selected for analysis. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the factors associated with drinking. Results There was a significantly higher proportion of current drinkers among men than women (36.42% +/- 0.86% vs. 3.73% +/- 0.27%). Among the current drinkers, proportions of binge drinking, heavy drinking and daily drinking were 38.2, 53.0, 57.5% for men and 10.9, 37.2, 36.2% for women, respectively. Factors significantly associated with current drinking were age, health situation, smoking, geographic region, work status and social activities among men, and age, smoking, geographic region and work status among women. The favorite type of alcohol was spirits for both men and women. The type of beverage intake was also related socio- cultural-demographic factors as mentioned above. Conclusions Alcohol consumption behaviors and type of beverage was significantly influenced by socio- cultural-demographic factors. The socio-cultural-demographic factors affecting alcohol patterns should be further focused on to promote the development of alcohol control strategies.