Biomaterial Database

Alcohol intake in patients admitted acutely to a general medical unit. 1995

J A McKnight, and D R McCance, and F T Lundy, and G B Widsom, and J R Hayes

Metabolic Unit, Western General Hospitals NHS Trust, Edinburgh.

The role of alcohol in causing acute medical admissions is recognised but not well quantified. Using a questionnaire we have studied prospectively alcohol intake in patients aged 18-60 years admitted to a medical unit and have analysed the contribution of alcohol to their admission. One hundred and six patients (61 male: 45 female) who fulfilled our preset age criteria were studied. Alcohol intake (mean +/- SEM) was 9 +/- 1 and 12 +/- 1 units on average and heavy drinking days respectively, and 38 +/- 6 units during their last drinking week. Gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) was > 60 U/l (upper limit of normal) in 29 (n = 92). Eighteen (30%) men had drunk > 50 units and seven (16%) women had taken > 35 units in their last drinking week. In 25 (41%) men and 11 (24%) women alcohol intake was felt to contribute to their admission. In this subgroup, intake was 15 +/- 2 and 20 +/- 1 units on average and heavy drinking days respectively, and 87 +/- 13 units in the last drinking week. GGT was available in 29 and was abnormal in 18. Admission diagnoses were drug overdose (n = 16), alcohol withdrawal symptoms (n = 7), liver disease (n = 6), haematemesis (n = 14) and others (n = 3). Fifteen (42%) felt they had a definite alcohol problem. The use and abuse of alcohol contributes significantly to the general medical workload in the age group studied.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D009660	Northern Ireland	The northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland - between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea; northwest of France. The capital is Belfast.
D005260	Female		Females
D005723	gamma-Glutamyltransferase	An enzyme, sometimes called GGT, with a key role in the synthesis and degradation of GLUTATHIONE; (GSH, a tripeptide that protects cells from many toxins). It catalyzes the transfer of the gamma-glutamyl moiety to an acceptor amino acid.	GGTP,Glutamyl Transpeptidase,gammaglutamyltransferase,gamma-Glutamyl Transpeptidase,Transpeptidase, Glutamyl,Transpeptidase, gamma-Glutamyl,gamma Glutamyl Transpeptidase,gamma Glutamyltransferase
D006760	Hospitalization	The confinement of a patient in a hospital.	Hospitalizations
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D000428	Alcohol Drinking	Behaviors associated with the ingesting of ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, including social drinking.	Alcohol Consumption,Alcohol Intake,Drinking, Alcohol,Alcohol Drinking Habits,Alcohol Drinking Habit,Alcohol Intakes,Consumption, Alcohol,Drinking Habit, Alcohol,Habit, Alcohol Drinking,Habits, Alcohol Drinking,Intake, Alcohol
D000437	Alcoholism	A primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial. Each of these symptoms may be continuous or periodic. (Morse & Flavin for the Joint Commission of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine to Study the Definition and Criteria for the Diagnosis of Alcoholism: in JAMA 1992;268:1012-4)	Alcohol Abuse,Alcoholic Intoxication, Chronic,Ethanol Abuse,Alcohol Addiction,Alcohol Dependence,Alcohol Use Disorder,Abuse, Alcohol,Abuse, Ethanol,Addiction, Alcohol,Alcohol Use Disorders,Chronic Alcoholic Intoxication,Dependence, Alcohol,Intoxication, Chronic Alcoholic,Use Disorders, Alcohol