Changes in socioeconomic differences in alcohol use among Finnish employees: a 22-year follow up

Abstract Background Population in Finland is ageing, and alcohol drinking among older adults has increased in recent years. Alcohol drinking is known to be socioeconomically patterned, but little is known about how these differences evolve as individuals age and how the transition to statutory retirement associates with this change. The aim of this study was to examine changes in socioeconomic differences in drinking patterns among ageing employees over a 22-year follow-up. Another aim was to examine how transition into statutory retirement contributed to these changes. Methods We analyzed changes in alcohol drinking among a cohort of ageing employees over a 22-year follow-up using data from the Helsinki Health Study surveying the ageing City of Helsinki employees (n = 6775). Data were collected in five phases between 2000 and 2022, and all participants were 40-60-year-old at Phase 1. Binge drinking and average weekly units were used as measures for alcohol drinking. We used occupational class as the measure of socioeconomic position (SEP) and examined changes in alcohol drinking using generalized linear mixed effect models (GLMM). Results At baseline, professionals (the highest SEP group) consumed 2.7 weekly units more than manual workers (lowest SEP group), but binge drinking was more common in manual group, with 22% of professionals and 27% of manual workers binge drinking weekly. Over the follow-up, socioeconomic differences in alcohol use decreased, with those in lower socioeconomic groups reducing binge drinking more with retirement. Conclusions Socioeconomic differences in alcohol consumption decreased over the follow-up. Retirement transition was associated with favorable changes in drinking patterns for all socioeconomic groups. The retirement transition could be a fruitful period for alcohol-related interventions. Key messages • Retirement seems to associate with beneficial change in drinking habits in all socioeconomic groups. • Retirement could be an optimal timing for alcohol-related interventions to narrow socioeconomic health disparities in ageing populations.