Moderate alcohol consumption in older adults is associated with better cognition and well-being than abstinence

doi:10.1093/ageing/afm001

Age and Ageing Advance Access originally published online on March 12, 2007
Age and Ageing 2007 36(3):256-261; doi:10.1093/ageing/afm001

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Moderate alcohol consumption in older adults is associated with better cognition and well-being than abstinence

Iain Lang¹^,, Robert B. Wallace², Felicia A. Huppert³ and David Melzer¹

¹ Epidemiology and Public Health Group, Peninsula Medical School, RD&E Wonford Site, Barrack Road, Exeter EX2 5DW, UK
² Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, E107 General Hospital, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
³ Department of Psychiatry, Box 189, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK

Address correspondence to: I. Lang. Tel: +44 (0)1392 406749. Email: iain.lang{at}pms.ac.uk

Background: there is evidence of a U-shaped association betweenalcohol consumption and physical health outcomes in older people,such that moderate drinking is associated with better outcomesthan abstinence or heavy drinking, but whether moderate drinkingin older people is associated with better cognition and mentalhealth than non-drinking has not been explored.

Objective: to assess the relationship between drinking and cognitivehealth in middle-aged and older people.

Design: prospective observational study.

Setting/Participants: six thousand and five individuals aged50 and over who participated in Wave 1 of the English LongitudinalStudy of Ageing (ELSA) and who were not problem drinkers.

Exposure and outcome variables: we examined cognitive function,subjective well-being, and depressive symptoms, and comparedthe risks associated with having never drunk alcohol, havingquit drinking, and drinking at <1, <2 and >2 drinksper day.

Results: for both men and women, better cognition and subjectivewell-being, and fewer depressive symptoms, were associated withmoderate levels of alcohol consumption than with never havingdrunk any.

Conclusions: in middle-aged and older men and women, moderatelevels of alcohol consumption are associated with better cognitivehealth than abstinence.

Keywords: alcohol consumption, cognition, depression, well-being, elderly

Received 11 August 2006; accepted in revised form 5 December 2006.

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