This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
One in ten inpatients deemed alcohol dependent
New research estimates that one in five patients in the UK hospital system uses alcohol harmfully, and one in ten is alcohol dependent.
Researchers at King’s College London have found high levels of alcohol dependence among hospital inpatients, saying that little is being done to screen routinely for alcohol dependence in hospitals, and that services for patients with alcohol dependence are limited.
Published in the journal Addiction, the analysis provides the first robust estimates of alcohol-related conditions among UK hospital inpatients by pooling the results of 124 earlier studies, covering a total of 1,657,614 participants. The review suggests harmful alcohol use is ten times higher in hospital inpatients, and alcohol dependence is eight times higher, compared with the UK general population.
The review also found that harmful use of alcohol is most prevalent in mental health inpatient units and alcohol dependence is found most commonly in patients attending accident and emergency departments.
Alcohol-related conditions are estimated to cost the NHS approximately £3.5 billion per year, and without in-hospital screening many alcohol-related conditions may be missed and not receive appropriate treatment.
Emmert Roberts, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, said: “Many doctors are aware that alcohol-related conditions are common among hospital inpatients, but our results suggest the problem is much bigger than anecdotally assumed. Dedicated inpatient alcohol care teams are needed to ensure this widespread problem is being addressed, particularly in the context of diminishing numbers of specialist community alcohol services in the UK.”
Latest News
16/02/2024 - 12:56
Hammersmith and Fulham Council has created a new alliance intended to clean dirty air and improve residents' health.
16/02/2024 - 10:44
Two million more GP appointments a month are being delivered for patients compared to the same month before the pandemic as part of the NHS primary care access recovery plan according to new NHS data.
15/02/2024 - 10:26
The Welsh Government has provided innovation funding of £380,000 to support two projects utilising technology in domiciliary care.
15/02/2024 - 10:13
The new Scottish health secretary has met with frontline staff at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
14/02/2024 - 10:27
The North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) has appointed three new Executive Directors to the Trust Board.
Product Features
UK Building Regulations highlight toxic gas and smoke from layers of paint built up over multiple redecorations as a major cause of permanent ill health or death in a building fire.
Their concern rose with discovery the flame retardant paints most widely used paint along escape routes have been ones which to this day counter-productively use emission of heavy toxic gas to smother flames which rapidly spread along walls if layers of paint delaminate in a fire.
Supplier Profiles
Northwich’s Victoria Infirmary (VIN) Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) has enabled more patients
Adveco, the commercial hot water specialist, announces the launch of live metering of domestic ho
Latest Features
Sarah Greenslade, public affairs and communications officer at the British Parking Association looks at some of the problems and innovations in healthcare parking
It’s easy to assume that the comms team is there to handle press enquiries and the occasional social media storm – but the reality is that strategic communications can make a measurable impact across the entire organisation, from operational to financial, when done properly
