WEDNESDAY, Jan. 19, 2005 (HealthDayNews) -- Some older Americans may be at-risk gamblers who are prone to betting lots of money or more money than they can afford, says a study in the January issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Researchers surveyed 843 people aged 65 and older and found that 70 percent of them had been involved in at least one gambling activity within the previous year. Eleven percent could be classified as at-risk gamblers because they'd recently put more than $100 on a single bet and/or had bet more money than they could afford to lose.
Women were just as likely as men to be gamblers and to show signs of gambling problems. The study, by researchers at Pennsylvania State College of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania, is the largest to examine older adults' gambling habits.
"Results from this study raise significant public health concerns that gambling and at-risk gambling are prevalent in older men and women," the study authors wrote. "Although many older adults view gambling as harmless entertainment and participate in some form of gambling without significant problems, a significant minority suffers disastrous consequences."
Seniors are more likely to be living on fixed incomes, so even small gambling losses can have a major impact on them. Older adults are also more likely to have some form of age-related mental impairment that affects their ability to gamble responsibly, the researchers contend.
"The seniors who are at-risk may not be ready for Gamblers Anonymous, but many of them don't have a lot of money, and spending on gambling could mean that they won't have anything left to buy medicines," study senior author Dr. David Oslin, of the University of Pennsylvania, said in a prepared statement.
Every state except Utah and Hawaii has some form of legal gambling opportunity, the study noted. Gambling is a $40 billion industry in the United States.
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about problem gambling.
