Affiliation
South Lee Mental Health Service, GF Unit, Cork University Hospital, Wilton, Cork,, Ireland.Issue Date
2012-02-03T15:16:41ZMeSH
AdolescentAdult
Aged
Alcohol Drinking/*epidemiology/psychology
Alcoholism/*epidemiology/psychology
Confidence Intervals
Female
Health Status Indicators
Hospitals, General/*statistics & numerical data
Humans
Ireland/epidemiology
Male
Middle Aged
Odds Ratio
Prevalence
Psychometrics
Questionnaires
Sensitivity and Specificity
Substance-Related Disorders/*epidemiology
Young Adult
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Ir J Med Sci. 2008 Dec;177(4):339-42. Epub 2008 Oct 25.Journal
Irish journal of medical scienceDOI
10.1007/s11845-008-0243-yPubMed ID
18953625Abstract
AIMS: To examine (1) the prevalence of alcohol use disorders in adult general hospital inpatients; (2) the accuracy of documentation in relation to alcohol use. METHODS: A total of 210 random patients were interviewed out of 1,448 consecutive new admissions to CUH over 7 days. Case notes were reviewed for 206 (98%). Alcohol consumption was assessed using the Fast Alcohol Screening Test (FAST) and weekly drinking diary. FAST-positive (and a random sample of FAST-negative) patients then had a standardized interview. RESULTS: A total of 82% admitted for drinking alcohol. Among them 22% were drinking in excess of guidelines, 9% had DSM-IV Alcohol Abuse and 7% dependence. The sensitivity and specificity of the FAST for detecting those drinking above guidelines were 89 and 94% and for detecting a DSM-IV diagnosis was 100 and 73%. The majority of case notes contained inadequate information about alcohol intake. CONCLUSION: Alcohol use disorders are common and often undetected in the general hospital setting.Language
engISSN
1863-4362 (Electronic)0021-1265 (Linking)
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1007/s11845-008-0243-y