Social anxiety disorder in 300 patients hospitalized for alcoholism in Brazil: high prevalence and undertreatment

• Published in: Comprehensive psychiatry Vol. 47; no. 6; pp. 463 - 467
• Main Authors: Terra, Mauro B., Barros, Helena M.T., Stein, Airton T., Figueira, Ivan, Jorge, Miguel R., Palermo, Luiz H., Athayde, Luciana D., Gonçalves, Marcelo S., Spanemberg, Lucas, Possa, Marianne A., Filho, Ledo Daruy, Da Silveira, Dartiu X.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.11.2006; Elsevier; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Alcohol use; Alcoholism; Alcoholism - epidemiology; Alcoholism - psychology; Alcoholism - rehabilitation; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders - epidemiology; Anxiety Disorders - psychology; Anxiety Disorders - rehabilitation; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Biological and medical sciences; Brazil; Comorbidity; Cross-Sectional Studies; Desintoxication. Drug withdrawal; Fear & phobias; Female; Health Services Needs and Demand - statistics & numerical data; Hospitalization - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Institution therapy. Inpatient treatment; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Phobia; Phobic Disorders - epidemiology; Phobic Disorders - psychology; Phobic Disorders - rehabilitation; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Quality Assurance, Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Studies; Substance abuse treatment; Treatment Outcome; Treatments; South America; Brazil; America; Human; Social environment; Prevalence; Poison withdrawal; Social phobia; Alcoholism; Anxiety disorder; Mental health; Hospitalization; Epidemiology; Alcoholic beverage; Concomitant disease; Treatment; Young adult; Dependence; Adult; Public health
• ISSN: 0010-440X; 1532-8384
• DOI: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2006.02.004

Although the frequency of social phobia is high among alcoholic patients, this anxiety disorder is often neglected because treatment tends to be focused exclusively on alcohol dependence. A total of 300 hospitalized alcoholic patients were interviewed using Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition and Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale as well a questionnaire to check the use of medication for social phobia among alcoholics and the relationship between social phobia and alcohol use. A prevalence of 30.6% was found for specific phobia, 24.7% for social phobia, 22.2% for anxiety disorder induced by alcohol, 19.3% for generalized anxiety disorder, 5% for obsessive-compulsive disorder, 4.6% for posttraumatic stress disorder, and 2% for panic disorder with agoraphobia. Social phobia preceded alcohol dependence in 90.2% of the patients. The frequency of the use of medication for social phobia among social phobic alcoholics was 20.3%. The study confirms the high prevalence of anxiety disorders among alcoholics, particularly of social phobia. It also suggests that social phobia precedes alcohol dependence but shows that the use of medication for social phobia is still infrequent. Further studies are required to check if the failure to identify this comorbidity can make the recovery of alcoholics even more difficult.