The changing alcohol drinking patterns among older adults show that women are closing the gender gap in more frequent drinking: the Tromsø study, 1994–2016

Table 4 Prevalence rates, sex differences^a, and change in sex differences^b in drinking patterns across time

Drinking pattern	Tromsø 4 (1994–95)			Tromsø 7 (2015–16)			Change in sex difference^b 1994–95 versus 2015–16^c
Drinking pattern	Women	Men	Multivariate adjusted sex differences OR (CI 95%)	Women	Men	Multivariate adjusted sex differences OR (CI 95%)	T4 versus T7	P
Abstaining
60–69	31.6	14.5	0.38 (0.31–0.46)	9.1	5.1	0.56 (0.45–0.71)	0.18	=0.026
70+	48.2	25.5	0.37 (0.30–0.46)	23.0	10.8	0.43 (0.35–0.53)	0.06	=0.374
Frequent drinking, ≥2–3 times/week
60–69	5.2	14.2	3.02 (2.22–4.12)	34.3	41.4	1.36 (1.21–1.53)	1.66	< 0.001
70+	4.3	12.3	3.06 (2.07–4.54)	26.9	33.6	1.36 (1.16–1.60)	1.70	< 0.001
At-risk drinking, (≥3 units/≥36 g of ethanol on typical drinking days)
60–69	16.0	28.4	2.07 (1.69–2.54)	22.0	43.7	2.80 (2.47–3.18)	−0.73	< 0.001
70+	8.4	17.0	2.17 (1.59–2.95)	7.4	24.3	4.06 (3.18–5.17)	−1.89	< 0.001
Any HED (≥6 units/≥72 g of ethanol in one sitting) last year
60–69	37.2	66.6	3.72 (3.03–4.57)	26.9	65.7	5.72 (5.03–6.51)	−2.00	< 0.001
70+	11.6	33.9	3.96 (2.97–5.28)	15.1	42.3	5.35 (4.35–6.57)	−1.76	=0.085

^aSex differences reported as odds ratios (OR), with 95% confidence intervals (CI 95%), adjusted for age, level of education and relationship status with women as references
^bChange in sex difference: positive change indicates convergence (i.e. differences growing narrower), negative change indicates divergence. P-value for interaction term between sex and survey with 1994–95 as reference
^cOnly participants aged < 70 years were included in 1994–95, thus 2007–08 was set as baseline in analysis of participants aged ≥70 years

ISSN: 1747-597X