Assessing alcohol dependence in hospitalized patients

Alcohol misuse is generally not detected in hospital settings. The goal of this study was to estimate the prevalence of alcohol abuse and dependence in hospitalized patients in a university hospital in Sao Paulo (Brazil). Patients were randomly selected from all hospital admissions. The final sample...

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Published inInternational journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 11; no. 6; pp. 5783 - 5791
Main Authors Doering-Silveira, Juliana, Fidalgo, Thiago Marques, Nascimento, Carolina Lins E Silva, Alves, Juliana Bernardo, Seito, Caroline Lumy, Saita, Maria Claudia, Belluzzi, Lorenza Oliveira, Silva, Laila Carolina, Silveira, Dartiu, Rosa-Oliveira, Leonardo
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI AG 28.05.2014
MDPI
Subjects
Adult
Alcoholism
Alcoholism - diagnosis
Alcoholism - epidemiology
Brazil
Female
Hospitalization
Hospitals
Hospitals, University
Humans
Male
Mass Screening - instrumentation
Middle Aged
Patients
Prevalence
Public health
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult
Brazil
Sao Paulo Brazil
Brazil, Sao Paulo
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Summary:Alcohol misuse is generally not detected in hospital settings. The goal of this study was to estimate the prevalence of alcohol abuse and dependence in hospitalized patients in a university hospital in Sao Paulo (Brazil). Patients were randomly selected from all hospital admissions. The final sample consisted of 169 adult inpatients. Two screening tools were used: the Short Alcohol Dependence Data (SADD) and the CAGE questionnaires. In this sample, 25.4% of patients could be considered alcohol dependent according to the CAGE questionnaire, whereas 32.9% of patients fulfilled the criteria according to the SADD. The only predictor of alcohol dependence was gender; male inpatients were 3.2 times more prone to alcohol dependence with female inpatients. All inpatients should be systematically screened for alcohol use disorders. The choice of the screening tool will depend on whether the goal is to identify inpatients with hazardous drinking behaviors or with established alcohol-related problems. To maximize proper case identification, the CAGE questionnaire should be used as a first-step screening tool, and patients who screen positive on this scale should be subsequently administered the SADD questionnaire to assess the severity of the condition.
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ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph110605783