A Study Of Clinical Profile Of Patients With New Onset Alcohol Related Seizures

Aim: To study the clinical profile of patients with new onset alcohol related seizures (ARS) Materials and Methods: This was a prospective, hospital based, observational study of 50 consecutive patients without a prior diagnosis of epilepsy presenting with seizures related to alcohol intake, to either emergency room or out–patient department, Department of General Medicine, SVS Medical College, Mahabubnagar, Telangana state, between October 2015 to September 2017. An informed and written consent was taken from the patient or immediate responsible attendant. Detailed history including the personal and family history was obtained from all patients. AUDIT scoring was done in all patients. Detailed examination findings were noted down. EEG and CT Scan Brain was done in all patients. MRI Brain was done when required. Results: A total of 50 patients with alcohol withdrawal seizures were included in the study of which 24(48%) were males and 26(32%) were females. Majority of the patients presented with seizures within 6 days following the last bout of alcohol (85%). All the 50(100%) patients presented with generalized tonic clonic seizures (GTCS) and 8(16%) progressed in to status epilepticus. Withdrawal symptoms were present in 24(48%) patients. Family history of seizures in the first degree relative was present in 4(8%) patients. CT evidence of cortical atrophy was present in 10 (20%) patients. EEG suggestive of seizures was present in 15 (30%) patients. Conclusion: There was a slight female preponderance of alcohol related seizures in this study. Majority presented within 6 days after the last bout of alcohol. All presented with GTCS. EEG and CT Scan Brain reports were normal in majority of the patients.

Association of High-Risk Drinking with Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components in Elderly Korean Men: The Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2010–2012 / 가정의학회지

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have examined the association between alcohol consumption and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in adults, but studies in the elderly are lacking. We examined the relationship between high-risk alcohol consumption and MetS in elderly Korean men using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) questionnaire from the 2010–2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. METHODS: Among 25,534 subjects, 2,807 were men >60 years of age; after exclusions, we included 2,088 men in the final analysis. We categorized the study participants into three groups according to AUDIT score: low risk (0–7), intermediate risk (8–14), and high risk (≥15 points). RESULTS: Among the study population, 17.0% of the men were high-risk drinkers, who had the highest mean waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and triglyceride (TG) levels. The overall prevalence of MetS was 41.9% in the elderly men, and it was significantly higher in the group with high (48.3%) versus low (31.9%) AUDIT scores. The prevalence of MetS components (elevated BP, high FPG, high TG, and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) was associated with a high AUDIT score. The odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of the high-risk group for MetS, elevated BP, and high TG were 1.40 (1.03–1.89), 1.82 (1.28–2.60), and 1.77 (1.30–2.41) after adjustment for confounding variables. CONCLUSION: AUDIT score was correlated with most MetS components in elderly Korean men.

Reliability and validity of the Chinese version on Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To assess the reliability and validity of the Chinese version on Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) among medical students in China and to provide correct way of application on the recommended scales.Methods An E-questionnaire was developed and sent to medical students in five different colleges.Students were all active volunteers to accept the testings.Cronbach's α and split-half reliability were calculated to evaluate the reliability of AUDIT while content,contract,discriminant and convergent validity were performed to measure the validity of the scales.Results The overall Cronbach's α of AUDIT was 0.782 and the split-half reliability was 0.711.Data showed that the domain Cronbach's α and split-half reliability were 0.796 and 0.794 for hazardous alcohol use,0.561 and 0.623 for dependence symptoms,and 0.647 and 0.640 for harmful alcohol use.Results also showed that the content validity index on the levels of items I-CVI)were from 0.83 to 1.00,the content validity index of scale level (S-CVI/UA) was 0.90,content validity index of average scale level (S-CVI/Ave) was 0.99 and the content validity ratios (CVR) were from 0.80 to 1.00.The simplified version of AUDIT supported a presupposed three-factor structure which could explain 61.175％ of the total variance revealed through exploratory factor analysis.AUDIT semed to have good convergent and discriminant validity,with the success rate of calibration experiment as 100％.Conclusion AUDIT showed good reliability and validity among medical students in China thus worth for promotion on its use.

Reliability and validity of the Chinese version on Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To assess the reliability and validity of the Chinese version on Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) among medical students in China and to provide correct way of application on the recommended scales.Methods An E-questionnaire was developed and sent to medical students in five different colleges.Students were all active volunteers to accept the testings.Cronbach's α and split-half reliability were calculated to evaluate the reliability of AUDIT while content,contract,discriminant and convergent validity were performed to measure the validity of the scales.Results The overall Cronbach's α of AUDIT was 0.782 and the split-half reliability was 0.711.Data showed that the domain Cronbach's α and split-half reliability were 0.796 and 0.794 for hazardous alcohol use,0.561 and 0.623 for dependence symptoms,and 0.647 and 0.640 for harmful alcohol use.Results also showed that the content validity index on the levels of items I-CVI)were from 0.83 to 1.00,the content validity index of scale level (S-CVI/UA) was 0.90,content validity index of average scale level (S-CVI/Ave) was 0.99 and the content validity ratios (CVR) were from 0.80 to 1.00.The simplified version of AUDIT supported a presupposed three-factor structure which could explain 61.175％ of the total variance revealed through exploratory factor analysis.AUDIT semed to have good convergent and discriminant validity,with the success rate of calibration experiment as 100％.Conclusion AUDIT showed good reliability and validity among medical students in China thus worth for promotion on its use.

Relations between alcoholism and osteoporosis or femoral head necrosis / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To explore the relationship of alcoholism between osteoporosis or femoral head necrosis.Methods In this case-control study,we selected 95 eligible patients with femoral head necrosis and another 67 cases of osteoporosis as case group,together with 342 patients of fractures from the Second Hospital affiliated to Shanxi Medical College,from February to December 2010,as the control group.Questionnaire was used to collect general information of the patients.Through comparative analysis,related factors of femoral head,osteoporosis were defined.18 patients with alcoholic femoral head necrosis,11 patients with alcoholic osteoporosis and 20 patients with fractures were selected from the above said three groups and going through the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) as well as the Alcohol Use Disorders Scale (ADS).Using SPSS 13.0 conducted one-way ANOVA (analysis of variance),chi-square test,categorical logistic regression analysis were used for statistical analysis.Results Results from logistic regression analysis showed that the adjusted odds ratio of those subjects who liked drinking alcohol had an incidence of femoral head necrosis or osteoporosis as 7.70 (95％ CI:1.84,32.30) and 8.44 (95％ CI:1.70,41.90),respectively.The risks of using hormone for treating femoral head necrosis or osteoporosis were 78.43 (95％CI:11.20,149.05) and 22.75 (95％CI:2.59,100.27) times than those without.Data from the AUDIT showed that:over-dose of alcohol drinking habit existed 100％ in the femoral head necrosis group while 54.45％ in the osteoporosis group,while 75 percent patients in the fractures group had normal alcohol drinking habit.Statistically significant differences appeared in the three groups (P＜0.01).Results from the ADS showed that there were statistically significant differences between the ADS scores of the three groups (F=3.68,P=0.03).Conclusion Alcohol intake did seem to be highly correlated with the incidence rates of femoral head necrosis or osteoporosis.Alcohol-related necrosis could be viewed as alcohol-dependent diseases while alcohol-related and osteoporosis could partially be recognized as alcohol-dependent disease.

The Karamay community alcohol abuse and self-rated health status survey / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the health status and incidence of alcohol abuse of Xinjiang community residents.MethodsThrough multi-stage random sampling,1992 community residents ( 15-65years old) were assessed using socio-demographic information questionnaire,alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) and self-rated health measurement scale-prior test(SHRMS).Single factor analysis and rank sum test were used to identify the incidence of alcohol abuse,the distribution of different populations,and the self-rated health status of abusers.ResultsTotally 298 cases of alcohol abuse were identified,and accordingly,the prevalence rate of alcohol abuse for general population was 15.1％ ( male 26.4％,female 4.8％ ).Key factors for alcohol abuse included male,middle-aged,well-educated,at work,administrative work,high income levels and large number of household.The differences among groups were statistical significant.Presumably the workplace population was at high risk of alcohol abuse.Alcohol abusers were significantly worse than general population in self-rated health status(P ＜ 0.01 ),especially in mental health and social health.ConclusionThe incidence of alcohol abuse is relatively high in Xinjiang rcgion,and the problem need more attention.Further survey and early intervention work for highrisk group are advised to achieve the purpose of prevention and control.

Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): an updated systematic review of psychometric properties

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is an instrument used to screen for alcohol-related problems. It has been increasingly used in many different countries in both the original English-language version and its many translated versions. Because of the need for screening instruments of faster administration, shortened versions of the AUDIT have also been developed. This study was aimed at expanding the work by Berner and colleagues (2007) in an attempt to answer some remaining questions as well as to identify and evaluate studies on the validation of modified versions of the AUDIT, which have not been previously analyzed. In order to do so, we identified indexed articles published between 2002 and 2009 related to the psychometric qualities of the AUDIT by matching the keywords: alcohol, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, and AUDIT. We found 47 articles that evaluated the AUDIT in different countries and in diverse health and community contexts, involving adolescent, adult, and elderly samples. The studies confirmed the validity and efficiency of the AUDIT in the identification of harmful use, abuse, and dependence of alcohol, both in the original version and in modified ones. The possibility of using brief and efficient versions is of great value, since certain health contexts demand faster assessment. The results also showed that the reduced versions have satisfactory psychometric qualities, sometimes with sensitivity values higher than those of the AUDIT itself. The studies analyzed confirm the efficiency of the AUDIT both in its original, reduced, and language-adapted versions in different contexts and cultures.