Charles J Holahan1, Penny L Brennan2, Kathleen K Schutte3, Carole K Holahan4, J Gregory Hixon1, Rudolf H Moos5. 1. Department of Psychology , University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. 2. Institute for Health and Aging , University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California. 3. Center for Health Care Evaluation , VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California. 4. Department of Kinesiology and Health Education , University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. 5. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is a lack of research on the role of alcohol consumption in cigarette smoking among older adults, and the few studies on alcohol use and smoking with older adults have failed to distinguish between average level and pattern of drinking as predictors of smoking. The main purpose of this study was to examine the independent contributions of average level versus pattern of drinking as predictors of cigarette smoking among older adults. A subsidiary purpose was to examine the link between continued smoking and mortality among older smokers. METHODS: We investigated average level and pattern of drinking as predictors of current smoking among 1,151 older adults at baseline and of continued smoking and mortality among the subset of 276 baseline smokers tracked across 20 years. We used multiple linear and logistic regression analyses and, to test mediation, bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals. RESULTS: A high level of average drinking and a pattern of episodic heavy drinking were concurrently associated with smoking at baseline. However, only episodic heavy drinking was prospectively linked to continued smoking among baseline smokers. Continued smoking among baseline smokers increased the odds of 20-year mortality and provided an indirect pathway through which heavy episodic drinking related to mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Smokers who misuse alcohol are a challenging population for smoking cessation efforts. Older adults who concurrently misuse alcohol and smoke cigarettes provide a unique target for public health interventions.
BACKGROUND: There is a lack of research on the role of alcohol consumption in cigarette smoking among older adults, and the few studies on alcohol use and smoking with older adults have failed to distinguish between average level and pattern of drinking as predictors of smoking. The main purpose of this study was to examine the independent contributions of average level versus pattern of drinking as predictors of cigarette smoking among older adults. A subsidiary purpose was to examine the link between continued smoking and mortality among older smokers. METHODS: We investigated average level and pattern of drinking as predictors of current smoking among 1,151 older adults at baseline and of continued smoking and mortality among the subset of 276 baseline smokers tracked across 20 years. We used multiple linear and logistic regression analyses and, to test mediation, bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals. RESULTS: A high level of average drinking and a pattern of episodic heavy drinking were concurrently associated with smoking at baseline. However, only episodic heavy drinking was prospectively linked to continued smoking among baseline smokers. Continued smoking among baseline smokers increased the odds of 20-year mortality and provided an indirect pathway through which heavy episodic drinking related to mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Smokers who misuse alcohol are a challenging population for smoking cessation efforts. Older adults who concurrently misuse alcohol and smoke cigarettes provide a unique target for public health interventions.
Authors: Charles J Holahan; Kathleen K Schutte; Penny L Brennan; Carole K Holahan; Bernice S Moos; Rudolf H Moos Journal: Alcohol Clin Exp Res Date: 2010-08-24 Impact factor: 3.455
Authors: Jürgen Rehm; Dolly Baliunas; Guilherme L G Borges; Kathryn Graham; Hyacinth Irving; Tara Kehoe; Charles D Parry; Jayadeep Patra; Svetlana Popova; Vladimir Poznyak; Michael Roerecke; Robin Room; Andriy V Samokhvalov; Benjamin Taylor Journal: Addiction Date: 2010-03-15 Impact factor: 6.526
Authors: Christopher W Kahler; Ron Borland; Andrew Hyland; Sherry A McKee; Mary E Thompson; K Michael Cummings Journal: Drug Alcohol Depend Date: 2008-12-03 Impact factor: 4.492
Authors: Charles J Holahan; Kathleen K Schutte; Penny L Brennan; Carole K Holahan; Rudolf H Moos Journal: J Stud Alcohol Drugs Date: 2015-07 Impact factor: 2.582
Authors: Erica N Peters; Evan S Herrmann; Amy M Cohn; Victoria H Coleman-Cowger; Carson Smith; Bartosz Koszowski; Wallace B Pickworth Journal: Alcohol Clin Exp Res Date: 2018-08-31 Impact factor: 3.455