THE term “hazardous drinking” makes most of us think of 20-year-olds drinking a lot of cheap alcohol and causing mayhem in our streets and emergency rooms. But recent trends suggest that it’s also older adults that we should be concerned about.
The rate of hazardous drinking is rising rapidly in older adults worldwide, such as in the United States, the Netherlands and Sweden. This is matched by rising alcohol-related hospitalisations and deaths in older adults. An increase in older adult drinking is also evident in Australia and New Zealand. This has serious implications for our health systems, which are not designed to identify at-risk older drinkers nor to address their needs until their condition becomes critical.