A Comparison of Older Adults with Low-Risk and High-Risk Alcohol Use in the Emergency Department (2016)
Undergraduates: Yushan Wang, Christina Shenvi, MD PhD
Faculty Advisor: Christina Shenvi
Department: Chemistry
Background: Alcohol misuse is a common but under-recognized problem among older adults and can increase the risk of vehicle collisions, falls, and chronic medical problems. Emergency Department (ED) visits provide an important clinical setting for identifying high-risk alcohol use among older adults. Little is known about the epidemiology of this problem or the performance of screening instruments in this setting. We sought to estimate the prevalence of high-risk drinking among older adults receiving care in a U.S. ED, characterize high-risk drinkers, and assess the accuracy of two widely-used screening tools for detecting high-risk alcohol use.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of cognitively intact adults aged 65 and older presenting to an academic ED serving a racially and socioeconomically diverse population. High-risk drinkers were identified using a 2-question screener to define whether intake was greater than the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) guidelines for older adults: >7 drinks per week OR >3 per occasion. All others were considered low-risk. Intake was verified using the timeline follow-back method. Characteristics of high-risk and low-risk individuals were compared. The sensitivity and specificity of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and CAGE score were calculated using consumption above NIAAA guidelines as the criterion standard.
Results and Conclusion currently being analyzed.