Alcohol Use Disorder in Older Adults: A Review of Recent Literature on Epidemiology, Cognitive Outcomes, and Neuroimaging Findings and Treatment

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

In this review, we highlight research published over the past 15 years on the epidemiology, cognitive outcomes, neuroimaging findings, and treatment of AUD in older adults, with an emphasis on sex and gender differences. Epidemiological studies note increasing trends in drinking in the elderly as well as important gender differences. Alcohol use is associated with cognitive decline in older adults, but outcomes are heterogeneous. Neuroimaging studies demonstrate effects of alcohol use on frontal cortex and other brain structures, likely accelerating brain aging. Psychosocial treatment studies show that older adults respond similarly to their younger counterparts. Further studies are needed to examine longitudinal outcomes in light of psychiatric and medical comorbidities, especially in older racial and sexually minoritized populations.