# Alcohol Consumption and Cardiovascular Health Among Older Couples:  The Roles of Genetics and Marital Quality

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2021 · $405,787

## Abstract

Due to rapid population aging and more frequent and heavier drinking among the baby boom generation,
an alarming rise is expected in the number of older adults with alcohol-related problems. At the same time,
more than 50% of adults over age 55 in the U.S. have hypertension (HTN) and cardiovascular disease (CVD)
remains the nation's leading cause of death. Alcohol use is strongly related to HTN and CVD, and moderation
of alcohol is key for preventing and managing HTN in older adults. Although low levels of alcohol use can have
cardioprotective effects, physiological changes, chronic illnesses, and medication use can make even small
amounts of alcohol detrimental for cardiovascular health among older individuals. Marriage is a critical context
for examining alcohol use and its effects on cardiovascular health. Over 60% of older adults are married and
couples often engage in similar (i.e., concordant) drinking behaviors that can benefit marital quality, potentially
establishing or maintaining problematic drinking patterns. Further, it is well established that CVDs and their
biological risk factors are moderately to highly heritable, indicating that they are influenced by genetics.
However, we know little about how alcohol use changes among couples as they age together or the
marital and genetic factors that may make individuals and couples more resilient or vulnerable to CVD.
In response to Accelerating the Pace of Drug Abuse Research Using Existing Data (PAR-16-234), the
proposed project will use nationally representative longitudinal data from one of the largest studies of older
couples (N = 8,545 married/cohabiting couples; 17,090 individuals) to address the following aims: 1) Identify
alcohol use patterns among older couples over time and the demographic and contextual predictors of
those patterns, 2) Determine the implications of individual and partner alcohol use for cardiovascular
health and mortality among older couples over time, 3) Identify genetic and marital risk and protective
factors linked to alcohol-related cardiovascular health and mortality among older couples, and 4)
Develop and validate an innovative prognostic model to identify individuals and couples at high risk
for poor cardiovascular health and mortality. Identifying individuals and couples who are most at risk or
resilient to alcohol-related cardiovascular health problems and development of new prognostic models will
generate key insights for designing and testing interventions to reduce these major public health threats among
the growing population of aging adults.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10240609
- **Project number:** 5R01AA026687-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** KIRA S BIRDITT
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $405,787
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-20 → 2024-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10240609

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10240609, Alcohol Consumption and Cardiovascular Health Among Older Couples:  The Roles of Genetics and Marital Quality (5R01AA026687-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10240609. Licensed CC0.

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