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The importance of investigating alcohol use among people with schizophrenia
Author(s) -
Thornton L. K.,
Baker A. L.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/acps.12114
Subject(s) - psychiatry , psychological intervention , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , population , mental health , medicine , alcohol use disorder , exacerbation , psychology , alcohol , environmental health , biochemistry , chemistry , immunology
Alcohol use among people with schizophrenia is very common. The 2010 Australian Survey of High Impact Psychosis (SHIP study, n = 1,812 people with schizophrenia spectrum or bipolar disorders) demonstrated over half (58.7%) of men and over a third of women (38.2%) with psychoses have a lifetime alcohol use disorder, representing a doubling in the last decade. Among this population, alcohol use has been linked to a range of adverse consequences including unemployment, lower education level, lower socio-economic status and exacerbation of psychiatric symptoms. The adverse consequences associated with co-occurring alcohol use and schizophrenia also extend to the wider community as this population tend to have greater use of expensive services such as emergency medical care and psychiatric hospitalization