Moderate Alcohol in Older Adults: A Preliminary Study

描述（由申请人提供）：尽管认识到老年人的队列继续增加，老年人保持社会和专业参与的时间更长，酒精可能与常见药物和各种功能产生不利影响，但对老年人适度饮酒的系统研究非常有限。由于测试范围狭窄、主要包括男性样本和/或未能招募到具有代表性的样本，因此受到限制。这项修订的试点研究旨在解决其中一些限制。具体而言，它将提供关键的初步数据，关于急性适度饮酒的影响和持续适度饮酒对神经认知，神经生理和心理表现以及心理社会功能和适应的影响。为了完成这项初步工作，将对148名年龄在56岁至70岁之间的老年适度饮酒者进行评估。132/148将在双盲安慰剂对照设计下进行测试。其余16名（8名男性/8名女性）将组成对照组，在对照条件下进行测试，其中既不预期也不给予酒精，因为老年女性是一个特别未充分研究的群体，因此将尽一切努力招募相同数量的男性和女性饮酒者。从这项研究中收集的数据将提供有关急性，中等剂量的酒精对老年饮酒者在各个领域的影响的关键信息，也将提供与我们正在进行的工作中评估的年轻药物滥用和社区控制受试者的比较数据。该项目通过确保适当的方案制定、培训、试点工作和初始数据收集，将为我们正在进行的研究计划中进一步发展老龄化重点提供必要的基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite the recognition that the cohort of older adults continues to increase, that older adults remain socially and professionally engaged for longer periods of time and that alcohol may adversely interact with common medications and various functions, systematic research on moderate alcohol use in older populations is remarkably limited. It is restricted by narrow test batteries, the inclusion of largely male samples and/or the failure to recruit representative samples. This revised pilot study was designed to address some of these limitations. Specifically, it would provide critical preliminary data regarding the effects of the acute administration of moderate alcohol and the effects of continued moderate drinking on neurocognitive, neurophysiological, and psychomotor performance as well as psychosocial functioning and adaptation. To complete this initial work, 148 older moderate drinkers between the ages of 56 and 70 will be evaluated. 132/148 will be tested under a double-blind placebo-controlled design. The remaining 16 (8 male/8 female) will comprise a comparison group to be tested under control conditions where alcohol is neither expected nor administered, Because older women are a particularly understudied group, every attempt will be made to recruit equal numbers of male and female drinkers. Data collected from this study will provide critical information regarding the effects of acute, moderate doses of alcohol on older drinkers in a variety of domains and will also provide comparison data with younger substance abusing and community control subjects evaluated in our on-going work. This project, by ensuring appropriate protocol development, training, pilot work and initial data collection, would provide the necessary foundation for the further development of an aging focus in our on-going research program.