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Age distribution of patients with delirium tremens in Denmark 1836–1978
Author(s) -
Kramp P.,
Hemmingsen R.
Publication year - 1981
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/j.1600-0447.1981.tb00672.x
Subject(s) - delirium tremens , incidence (geometry) , danish , demography , population , age groups , medicine , alcohol consumption , middle age , age of onset , delirium , alcohol , pediatrics , psychiatry , disease , chemistry , environmental health , sociology , optics , linguistics , philosophy , physics , biochemistry
The age of Danish delirium tremens (DT) patients in five different time periods – 1836, 1897, 1954–60, 1961 and 1978 – was compared. The age distribution of DT patients was very similar in the 1836‐, 1897‐ and 1978‐studies, about half of the patients were below the age of 40. The studies from the middle of this century differ remarkably from this, only 10–15% of the patients were below the age of 40 in these two studies. Similar changes in the age of DT patients seemingly have occurred in other countries. The similarity in the age distribution of DT patients in the last century and today may suggest that independently of many other factors young persons excessively drinking alcohol have a greater risk of developing a DT than have older alcohol‐abusing persons. The alcohol consumption of the general population and the incidence of DT have been found to correlate. The high mean age of DT patients in the 1950's could be explained by the low alcohol consumption – and thereby the low incidence of DT – in this period, which in turn gives a decreasing number of DT patients; the largest decrease would occur in the most sensitive group – the young alcoholics – causing an increasing age maximum of the patients. The age distribution of DT patients in the various materials has been corrected according to changes in the age distribution of the general population during the 150 years investigated. These corrections did not change the main conclusion: independently of a series of social, health and environmental factors young alcohol‐abusing persons are especially prone to develop a DT. Finally, some possible explanations of this phenomenon are suggested.