Prevalence of alcohol use disorders among patients admitted to Baguio General Hospital & Medical Center

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine the prevalence of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) among patients admitted in Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC).METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study design included randomly selected patients who were admitted in BGHMC, using a two-phase case identification strategy. The first phase was the review of charts wherein no AUD screening tool was used to determine how many patients were diagnosed with AUD. The second phase employed the use of a screening tool (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test or AUDIT) to identify AUDs. Diagnostic interview for AUD using the DSM-IV-TR was done by the researcher with the subjects found to be positive on the screening tool.RESULTS: The prevalence of AUD was 1% and 21% for phase I and phase II respectively. Diagnostic interview for AUD using the DSM-IV-TR showed that out of the 67 patients with AUD, 43 (64.2%) had Alcohol Dependence and 24 (35.8%) had Alcohol Abuse. The difference was statistically significant.CONCLUSION: The ratio of reported cases of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) among the patients admitted in BGHMC was higher with the use of screening tool. Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) as a screening tool was able to identify and detect patients with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). There was higher number of patients admitted in BGHMC with alcoholic dependence than with alcohol abuse.