Alcohol habits and tobacco use in 70-year-olds—Evaluation of a pilot project of targeted health dialogues

Abstract BackgroundTargeted Health Dialogues (THDs), an intervention program aimed at improving health behaviors in 40- and 50-year-olds to prevent cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, was piloted to 70-year-olds in Scania County, Sweden. This study evaluates tobacco use and alcohol habits, along with self-estimated impact of the THD after one year.MethodsFourteen primary healthcare centers invited all their registered 70-year-olds to a THD. A total of 155 (30.3%) out of 511 THD-participants also consented to take part in our research project and filled out both the baseline and one-year follow-up questionnaires on health behaviors. In addition to the baseline questionnaire, the participants underwent physical measurements and received a visual health profile with 13 risk factors across four levels: green (lowest risk), yellow, orange and red (highest risk). The one-year follow-up questionnaire assessed changes in tobacco and alcohol use, analyzed using Chi-squared and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests.ResultsThe study participants reported that they had reduced their weekly alcohol consumption from a mean of 3.4 to 2.7 glasses (p < 0.001). Among the participants with the highest consumption of alcohol at baseline, 21.6% reported that they had improved their alcohol habits at follow-up, which was significant compared to those who scored green in the health profile at baseline (p < 0.007). For tobacco use, the results were similar but less consistent.ConclusionsTHDs may reduce alcohol consumption in older adults. In addition, many study participants with high consumption reported that they had improved their tobacco and alcohol habits, which needs further evaluation. Further research on larger sample sizes is needed to assess the impact of THDs on tobacco and alcohol use in elderly participants.Trial registration:ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT04912739, registration date: 04/23/2021