Investigating the Association between Alcohol Consumption History and Some Mental Distress based on a Population-Based Study with a Focus on Quranic Verses

Mental distress in the elderly has different prevalence and distribution according to different determinants in different cultures. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of mental distress and its distribution according to the determination of different individual, social and medical groups in the elderly over 60 years old.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in the elderly population aged above 60 years in Tehran using stratified cluster sampling. The demographic data and medical history of the participants were extracted using interviews. The Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) and the Goldberg’s 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) were administered to evaluate the participants, and subjects with cognitive disorders were excluded from the study. The history of alcohol consumption of people was completed by interview.

The mean components of physical dimension, anxiety, social dimension and depression in people who had a history of alcohol consumption were 6.69±3.68±2.77, 8.72±2.24 and 2.46±3.38, respectively, and those without History of alcohol consumption was 3.44±1.92, 5.28±2.84, 7.96±1.95 and 1.1±1.68. The overall score of the GHQ questionnaire was 21.95±7.79 and 17.79±4.69 in people with and without a history of alcohol consumption. The t-test showed a significant difference between the two groups in all these components. Multiple linear regression showed that after controlling the effects of age, sex, and diabetes, the mass index of all these components is worse in people with alcohol consumption. Based on the cut point above 23, the prevalence of mental distress was 31.3% in people with a history of alcohol consumption and 12.8% in people without a history of alcohol consumption. Logistic regression showed that the chance of mental distress based on GHQ in people with a history of alcohol consumption is 1.3 times that of people without a history of alcohol consumption (p<0.001).

Alcohol consumption and history of its consumption can cause depression, anxiety and disruption in social relations in old age. It should be kept in mind that the quality of life of the elderly decreases with the creation of these mental disorders, and people should be informed about the effects of alcohol abuse through religious and scientific education.