Age and mortality among white male problem drinkers

Aims. This study is designed to determine the relative risk of mortality fo r white male problem drinkers compared to white males in the general popula tion, and to identify any variation in relative risk of problem drinking in three age groups (18-29, 30-49 and 50-79 years). Design. The research desi gn is prospective, using historical administrative datasets from treatment programs in conjunction with vital records datasets. Participants. Particip ants include all white men aged 18-79 treated for alcohol-related problems in community mental health substance abuse programs in Vermont during 1991. The treatment group includes 1853 service recipients; the comparison group includes 196 443 adult white male residents of Vermont. Measurement. Measu rement of mortality rates for problem drinkers was based on probabilistic d etermination of overlap between treatment and vital record datasets. Findin gs. Mortality for problem drinkers is greater than the general population i n all three age groups. The estimated relative risk of mortality in the old est age group was lower than the other groups, but substantially higher tha n found in recently published research. The estimated relative risk of mort ality in the youngest age group, which has rarely been addressed in previou s research, was higher than the relative risk in the middle age group. Conc lusion. The application of a public health research model in which problem drinkers are compared to the general population has potential to inform pub lic policy. In this case, the public health approach identified an elevated risk of mortality associated with problem drinking among older adults that had not been evident in the previous research.