The structure of alcohol consumption in patients of an emergency hospital: results of prevalence screening

At the end of 2023, the Russian Government approved the Concept for Reducing Alcohol Consumption in the Russian Federation until 2030 and beyond. Planning of measures within the framework of solving one of the main tasks of the Concept — prevention of alcohol abuse, improving the quality and accessibility of medical care for persons with alcohol dependence and persons with harmful use of alcohol — requires studying the prevalence and features of its use among patients and victims hospitalized in an urgent multidisciplinary hospital. Purpose of the study . Screening of the prevalence and peculiarities of daily alcohol consumption by patients who sought emergency medical care in the inpatient emergency department of the St. Petersburg I.I. Dzhanelidze research institute of emergency medicine. Materials and methods . Тhe study sample included 586 patients of both sexes, hospitalized in GBU SPB Dzhanelidze Research Institute of Emergency Medicine in connection with somatic pathology. Screening was performed with a structured interview method, including questions of Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (RUSAUDIT). The results of the study . An analysis of the pattern of alcohol use by patients of an emergency hospital by age group, sex, frequency, type and volume of alcohol consumed, and their association with the presence of chronic diseases is provided. Signs of harmful alcohol use were assessed in the respondents and a significant number of respondents were found to have tendency to binge drinking, withdrawal from usual activities and guilt related to alcohol use.