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Alcohol‐related problems in primary care patients in Nigeiia
Author(s) -
Abiodun O. A.
Publication year - 1996
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.1600-0447.1996.tb10640.x
Subject(s) - medicine , primary care , audit , primary health care , intervention (counseling) , family medicine , mental health , developing country , occupational safety and health , environmental health , psychiatry , population , management , economic growth , pathology , economics
Abiodun OA. Alcohol‐related problems in primary care patients in Nigeria. Scand 1996: 93: 235–239. © Munksgaard 1996. A total of 440 (50.1%) drinking patients were found in a study of 878 primary care patients in Nigeria, of whom 126 (28.6%) of drinking patients were observed to have alcohol‐related problems. Those with alcohol‐related problems were significantly more likely to be males, middle‐aged and to belong to higher occupational groups. In addition, they were also more likely to be separated, divorced or widowed, made more frequent visits to health care facilities and were more likely to have associated mental morbidity. The primary health care (PHC) workers did not recognize these problem drinkers in their care. The need to improve the ability of PHC workers to detect and manage primary care patients with alcohol‐related problems in developing countries through the use of reliable and valid short alcohol screening instruments (e.g. CAGE, AUDIT) and brief intervention techniques is emphasized. It is also suggested that, on a long‐term basis, the training curricula for medical and paramedical primary care personnel in third world countries should include more hours on alcohol education.