Attitudes towards addressing alcohol consumption by healthcare professionals: A cross-sectional study

Aims: Hazardous alcohol consumption represents a substantial threat to public health, particularly for older adults(aged 55 and above), who are more vulnerable to alcohol-related harm. Healthcare professionals play a key role in addressing alcohol consumption, yet little is known about older adults’ attitudes towards these conversations. This study aimed to: 1) examine older adults’ attitudes towards alcohol-related conversations with GPs, practice nurses, district nurses and volunteers; and 2) explore associations between these attitudes and older adults’ socio-demographic characteristics and alcohol consumption.

Methods :Across-sectional survey(N= 424)was conducted to collect data on socio-demographics, alcohol consumption and attitudes towards alcohol-related conversations. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between personal characteristics and attitudes.

Results: Support for routinely asking about alcohol consumption was highest for GPs (60.4%), followed by practice nurses (55.0%), district nurses (46.7%)and volunteers (17.5%). Older adults aged 75 and older were more likely to view alcohol use as a personal matter and were less likely to initiate conversations with GPs (OR 0.66, CI 0.43–1.00) or district nurses (OR 0.60, CI 0.38–0.94), compared to those younger than 75.High-risk drinkers were more likely to have negative attitudes towards district nurses routinely addressing alcohol consumption(OR 0.54, CI 0.29–0.99).

Conclusions: Attitudes towards alcohol-related conversations differ across healthcare professionals, with GPs viewed most favourably and volunteers least. Thesefindings highlight the need for healthcare systems to avoid treating healthcare professionals as interchangeable when addressing alcohol consumption.