ABSTRACT
The adult patients of the somatic departments of Amiens University Hospital were screened on a randomly selected day by interviewers who examined them using a structured questionnaire regarding lifestyle, with the CAGE questionnaire, and their daily alcohol consumption. The medical histories of all patients were collected. A patient was considered having an alcohol problem if one or more of the following criteria was fulfilled: (1) a CAGE questionnaire score of 2 or more positive answers; (2) an alcohol-related diagnosis. In total, 869 patients fulfilled the entry criteria (377 patients were excluded owing to predefined exclusion criteria). A hundred and sixty-seven patients (19.2%) fulfilled 1 or 2 of the criteria for an alcohol problem. Eighty-eight patients (10.1%) had an alcohol-related discharge diagnosis. The prevalence of patients with a positive CAGE score was 13.5% and was significantly higher among male patients (22.7%) than among female patients (5.5%). The frequency of a higher socioeconomic status or the status of 'living alone' increased significantly with alcohol consumption.
Subject(s)
Alcohol-Related Disorders/epidemiology , Alcoholism/epidemiology , Hospitals, University/statistics & numerical data , Surveys and Questionnaires , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Alcohol-Related Disorders/diagnosis , Alcoholism/diagnosis , Analysis of Variance , Female , France/epidemiology , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
AIMS: To assess the prevalence of alcohol abuse and the prevalence of alcohol-related discharge diagnosis in an elderly general hospital population. DESIGN: On a randomly selected day, all patients aged 65 years and over admitted to a university hospital were screened. SETTING: University Hospital of Amiens, France. PARTICIPANTS: All patients aged 65 years and over were approached and requested to take part in the study. They were interviewed using the CAGE questionnaire and with a structured questionnaire regarding life-style, and asked about their usual daily alcohol consumption. The medical history of each patient was taken. In total, 612 patients fulfilled the age criteria, but 205 patients (33.6%) had to be excluded owing to predefined exclusion criteria (e.g. dementia, aphasia, terminal illness ...) and 37 patients (6%) refused to participate. FINDINGS: The data were derived from 370 patients. The median age was 79 years; 54% reported no alcohol consumption; 9% of patients scored positive on the CAGE questionnaire. The prevalence of patients with a CAGE questionnaire positive was significantly higher among male patients (17%) than female patients (2.5%). The prevalence of patients with alcohol-related discharge diagnosis was 7%. The frequency of higher socio-economic status or divorced status increased significantly with alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS: There may be a substantial prevalence of alcohol problems in elderly hospital patients. Research is needed to examine how generalized this problem is.