Potential for Alcohol and Prescription Drug Interactions in Older People

Objectives: To examine the patterns and prevalence of concomitant alcohol and alcohol‐interactive (AI) drug use in older people. Design: Cross‐sectional analysis of survey and prescription claims data. Setting: The Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly (PA‐PACE) program, a state‐funded program providing prescription benefits to older people with low to moderate incomes. Participants: A total of 83,321 PA‐PACE cardholders (age range 65–106) who were using any prescription medications at the time of survey completion. Measurements: All AI drugs were identified using a database of medication warning labels obtained from First DataBank. Prescription drug claims were used to characterize AI drug exposure according to therapeutic class of prescription drug use. A mail survey of PA‐PACE cardholders was used to examine alcohol use, as well as sociodemographic and health factors associated with concomitant use of alcohol and AI drugs. Results: Seventy‐seven percent of all prescription drug users were exposed to AI medications, with significant variation in exposure and concomitant alcohol use according to therapeutic class. Overall, 19% of AI drug users reported concomitant alcohol use, compared with 26% of non‐AI drug users (P