Prevalence of alcohol and tobacco consumption in older adults in a gerontological center in Aguascalientes

Abstract

Introduction:Substance abuse of alcohol and tobacco is a poorly recognized health problem in the older adult. The growing number of older adults with alcohol and tobacco use problems will place greater demands on health care services. Objective:To determine the prevalence of alcohol and tobacco use in older adults in a gerontological center in the State of Aguascalientes. Methodology:Quantitative, descriptive, non-experimental, prolective, cross-sectional study. It consisted of a non-probabilistic sample by convenience of 202 older adults, from the DIF State Gerontological Center in the State of Aguascalientes, Mexico. The Audit instruments and the Exploratory Scale of Tobacco Consumption were applied with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.86 and 0.97; SPSS version 22 was used for statistical analysis. Results:The prevalence of alcohol consumption was 59%, average age of onset was 16 years, and the predominant type of beverage consumed was beer and tequila with 54.2% and 41.5%, respectively. The prevalence of tobacco use was 48.5%, 31.4% consumed more when consuming alcohol. Conclusion:The population is at risk that alcohol consumption will continue to increase due to different factors, while tobacco consumption shows a more considerable dependence.