• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.102-110
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• 1999

Objectives : The alcohol dependence in elderly people has been prevalent because of increase in geriatric population. However, it is difficult to find out alcohol dependence in the aged, because they have less specific clinical features as compared with adult alcoholics. The aims of this study were to screen alcohol dependence among elderly Koreans and to know the clinical characteristics of Korean delerly alcoholics. Methods : The questionnaires translated into Korean such as Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test(MAST-K), the Brief MAST and the MAST-Geriatirc Version (MAST-KG) were used to screen alcohol dependence in the elderly alcoholic inpatients aged over 60(N=43), adult alcoholic inpatients within 20-59 Yrs of age(N=60), which were compared with age matched normal healthy aged(N=18) or adult controls(N=45). The demographic data such as sex, age, education, occupation, socioeconomic status, marital status, numbers of children, dwelling and religion as well as alcohol history such as duration of alcohol drinking, onset age, family history, impulsivity, somatic illness and motivation were also obtained to identify characteristic features of Korean aged alcoholics by structured interviews. Results : 1) The aged alcoholics had the charateristic features of more in males, lower age, low education levels, more in blue-collar workers, lower socioeconomic class, more in single, few babies, more living alone, having no religion without statistical significance. 2) The onset age of alcohol dependence was significantly higher in the aged alcoholics($45.3{\pm}13.6Yrs$) than in the adult alcoholics($27.7{\pm}8.7Yrs$)(p<0.0001). The duration of problematic alcohol drinking was significantly longer in the aged alcoholics($22.0{\pm}15.1Yrs$) than in adult alcoholics($14.2{\pm}8.4Yrs$)(p<0.01). Otherwise, there were no significant difference between aged and adult alcoholics in the family history, imulsivity, somatic illness and motivation. 3) The mean score of the MAST-K was significantly higher in the aged alcoholics($20.6{\pm}5.4$) than in the normal aged($6.7{\pm}4.4$)(p<0.0001), which was significantly lower than in the adult alcoholics($26.2{\pm}8.0$) and in normal adult controls($9.5{\pm}3.2$)(p<0.05). The mean score of the Brief MAST was significantly lower in the aged alcoholics($9.3{\pm}3.5$) than in the adult alcoholics($14.5{\pm}6.6$)(p<0.0001). The mean score of the MAST-KG was significantly higher in the aged alcoholics($10.6{\pm}3.5$) than in the normal aged($4.8{\pm}4.3$)(p<0.0001). The former was significantly lower than in the adult alcoholics($12.9{\pm}4.3$)(p<0.005), and the mean score was $4.5{\pm}2.8$ in normal adult controls. 4) The items which showed statistically significant differences between aged alcoholics and normal aged controls could be found in 10 items of the MAST-K(items 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 14, 17, 21, 22 and 23), 2 items of the Brief MAST(items 2 and 9), and 7 items of the MAST-KG(items 6, 13, 18, 19, 22, 23 and 24)(p<0.01). Conclusions : The scores of the MAST-K, the Brief MAST and the MAST-KG were significantly lower in the aged alcoholics than those in the adult alcoholics (p<0.05). The statistically significant differences between aged alcoholics and normal aged controls could be found in 10 items of the MAST-K, 2 items of the Brief MAST and 7 items of the MAST-KG. Therefore, a briefer rating scales around 10 items are needed to screen alcohol dependence among Korean elderly people.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.60-65
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• 1999

Chronic alcoholism often leads to folate deficiency. In recent years it has been reported that mild elevation of plasma homocysteine (Hcy) is associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease. In the present study we investigated the effects of chronic ethanol consumption on folate status and the relation between plasma folate and Hcy. A human study was conducted to determine plasma folate, total Hcy, cysteine(Cys), total cholesterol and hemoglobin(Hb) concentrations in 44 Korean alcoholics(men aged 30 to 50yr) and 45 Korean non-alcoholic subjects(men aged 30 to 50 yr). In alcoholic subjects, 52.6% were folate deficient and 34.2% were marginally deficient, which suggested that most alcoholics were subnormal in folate status. Plasma total Hcy concentration of alcoholics was twice as high as in control subjects (p<0.001). We found a negative correlation between plasma folate and plasma total Hcy(r=-0.271, p<0.05) and a positive correlation between plasma folate and plasma Cys(r=0.249, p<0.05) in total subjects. Hb concentrations in alcoholics was significantly lower than in control subjects, but there was no difference in total cholesterol concentration between alcoholics and controls. These results suggest that chronic alcohol consumption may impair the disposal of Hcy by interfering with folate metabolism.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.180-188
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• 2014

This study examined to test the role of stress coping skills as mediators in the traumatic experiences and drinking anticipation among alcoholics. Subject in this study consisted of 220 alcoholics who aged 18 years and over in Seoul and Gyeonggi province. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaires. The statistical significance was rested by AMOS 18.0. The findings of the study were as follows: First, traumatic experiences - drinking anticipation(${\beta}=.408$, p<.001), traumatic experiences - stress coping skills(${\beta}=-.328$, p<.001) and stress coping skills - drinking anticipation(${\beta}=-.532$, p<.001) of alcoholics did show the direct relationship. Second, stress coping skills worked as mediators between traumatic experiences and drinking anticipation. The implications and limitations of these findings were discussed, and directions for future studies were also proposed.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.162-168
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• 2011

Objectives: Alcohol problems of parents have an influence on not only their psychological problems but also on their children's psychosocial adaptation. The purpose of this study was to compare the emotional and behavioral problems, including school bullying and social skills, between children of alcoholics (COAs) and children of non-alcoholics (non-COAs). Methods: We recruited $4^{th}$ grade children (n=741) from 7 primary schools in Seoul and their parents as subjects. The self-rated psychiatric symptoms were assessed with the Korean version of the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST-K), the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), the Rosenberg's Self-esteem Scale (RSES), the School Bullying Scale, the Social Skill Rating Scale and the Korean version of Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire-Adolescent (AEQ-A). The Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale-IV (ARS) was completed by the parents. Results: 518 children were non-COAs and 223 were COAs. The COAs showed higher CDI and ARS-IV scores and lower RSES scores than the non-COAs. Especially, the COAs also showed higher school bullying scale scores and lower cooperative scale scores on the social skill rating scales. But there was no difference of alcohol expectancy between the COAs and non-COAs. Conclusion: It was plausible that the COAs had more behavioral & psychosocial problems than the non-COAs among the school aged children. It is important to identify and intervene to solve the problems of peer relationships of school age COAs in order to prevent victimization by bullying and to improve psychosocial adaptation.