Research: Alcoholism in elderly often misdiagnosed

Alcohol use disorders are often underdetected and misdiagnosed in elderly people, according to researchers at Mercer's Institute for Research on Ageing, St. James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland, who reviewed and compared findings of previous studies on alcoholism. One study said that 10 percent of older patients may have alcoholism, yet fewer than half had the alcoholism documented. Various reasons for misdiagnosis included: Elders may not disclose their drinking history; health care workers may perceive alcohol use disorders in older people as being understandable in the context of poor health and changing life circumstances; and alcoholism may be masked by another physical or psychiatric illness, making detection more difficult, researchers said.