Concordance of use of alcohol and other substances among older adult couples

This study used data from a community survey of 826 older adults to examine the level of concordance of substance use among married couples and the ex tent to which demographic, social and health factors were associated with c oncordant drinking patterns. Results showed significant concordance for use of alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and depressant medications, with very high c oncordance on frequency of drinking and overall volume of consumption of al cohol. Drinking spouses were also Very accurate in reporting each other's u sual frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption. Education and religiosi ty were associated with concordance on drinking status (drinker/abstainer), but few other variables were significantly associated with drinking status or drinking level. In particular, marital happiness did not appear to be a ffected by discordant drinking. The results also indicated that having a dr inking spouse (versus an abstinent spouse) was associated with higher level s of drinking. These findings suggest that spousal influence on drinking is an important aspect of drinking among older persons and may have implicati ons for understanding the effects of gender and widowhood on the developmen t of late-onset problem drinking. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd.