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PHYSICAL DISEASE IN ALCOHOLISM INITIAL SURVEY OF 1,000 PATIENTS
Author(s) -
Wilkinson Patricia,
Kornaczewski A.,
Rankin J. G.,
Santamaria J. N.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1971.tb50304.x
Subject(s) - medicine , chronic bronchitis , alcoholic liver disease , asymptomatic , cirrhosis , pediatrics , medical history , disease
Between July, 1964, and August, 1969, 1,000 alcoholic patients (825 men and 175 women) attended an Alcoholism Clinic voluntarily for treatment They were referred from medical and nonmedical agencies mainly within the Melbourne metropolitan area. Their physical disabilities, past and presenting, have been categorized together with sociological data and details of drinking patterns. The men presented at an average age of 44·7 ± 9·9 years. They had drunk excessively for 18·8 ±8·1 years before presenting and their average ethanol consumption was 265 ± 110 gm per day. The women presented at an average age of 48·3 ±9·9 years after a mean of 12·6 + 11·2 years of excessive drinking, and their average ethanol consumption was 170 ± 65 gm per day. More than two‐thirds of the patients had evidence of some physical disability, either symptomatic (54·7%), or asymptomatic (14·8%), when they presented. The proportions were similar in the two sexes, despite the shorter history of exposure to alcohol among the women. The prevalence of physical disability was not related to social class, but it occurred more frequently with increasing age and with a longer history of excessive drinking. The commonest acute complications found when patients first presented were acute alcoholic liver disease (25·1% of all cases in the series), peripheral neuropathy (190%), hypertension (16·9%) and alcoholic gastritis (13·3%). The commonest chronic diseases were chronic bronchitis (17·3%), cirrhosis (9·8%), chronic brain syndrome (8·8%), epilepsy (7·8%) and peptic ulcer disease (7·2%). Major traumatic injuries, mostly the result of road traffic accidents, had been sustained at some time by 11·6% of the patients. Different disabilities were characteristically manifest at different stages of the patients’ alcoholism. Cirrhosis and chronic brain damage were late complications. By contrast, peptic ulceration and injuries from road traffic accidents occurred frequently within five years of the onset of excessive drinking. While a causal relationship cannot be established from the results of this study, they suggest that the possibility of Impending alcoholism should be considered in young patients, particularly males, who present with these problems.