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Association of alcohol drinking with verbal and visuospatial memory impairment in older adults: Clinical Research Center for Dementia of South Korea (CREDOS) study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2014

Haewon Byeon
Affiliation:
Department of Speech Language Pathology & Audiology, Nambu University, Gwangju, South Korea Institute on Aging, Ajou University Medical Center, Suwon, South Korea
Yunhwan Lee*
Affiliation:
Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea Institute on Aging, Ajou University Medical Center, Suwon, South Korea
Soon Young Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea Institute on Aging, Ajou University Medical Center, Suwon, South Korea
Kang Soo Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, CHA Kangnam Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
So Young Moon
Affiliation:
Institute on Aging, Ajou University Medical Center, Suwon, South Korea Department of Neurology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea
HyangHee Kim
Affiliation:
Graduate Program in Speech-Language Pathology, Research Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
Chang Hyung Hong
Affiliation:
Institute on Aging, Ajou University Medical Center, Suwon, South Korea Department of Psychiatry, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea
Sang Joon Son
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea
Seong Hye Choi
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, South Korea
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr Yunhwan Lee, MD, DrPH, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Ajou University School of Medicine, 164 World cup-ro, Youngtong-gu, Suwon 443-380, Republic of Korea. Phone: +82-31-219-5085; Fax: +82-31-219-5084. Email: yhlee@ajou.ac.kr.

Abstract

Background:

The study's aim was to examine the association of alcohol consumption with verbal and visuospatial memory impairment in older people.

Methods:

Participants were 1,572, aged ≥60 years, in the hospital-based registry of the Clinical Research Center for Dementia of South Korea (CREDOS). Moderate drinking was defined as no more than seven drinks per week and three drinks per day. Memory impairment was defined as performance with more than 1 standard deviation below the mean value on the Seoul Verbal Learning Test and Rey Complex Figure Test.

Results:

Those who consumed alcohol moderately, compared with abstainers, had a lower odds of verbal memory impairment (Odds Ratio [OR] = 0.64; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.46–0.87), adjusting for covariates. Visuospatial memory, however, was not significantly associated with alcohol consumption.

Conclusions:

Moderate alcohol drinking is associated with a reduced likelihood of verbal memory impairment among older people attending memory clinics.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2014 

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