Abstract
Background: Alcohol consumption is a major cause of acute and chronic health conditions associated with comorbidities and traumatic injuries, despite its partial prohibition in some countries. Moreover, alcohol-related hospital admissions increase the burden on the healthcare system. More than 80% of the population in Qatar comprises expatriates. This study aimed to analyze the demographics and clinical characteristics of subjects with alcohol-related emergency department (ED) visits/hospitalization with respect to different age groups in a single tertiary hospital in Qatar.Methods: It is a retrospective observational study of adult patients who visited the ED at Hamad General Hospital between January 2013 and March 2015 and were screened positive for alcohol use. Collected data included sociodemographic characteristics, blood alcohol concentration (BAC), pattern of admission, previous medical history, laboratory investigations, treatment, hospital course, and mortality. Data were compared with respect to the distribution of age groups such as < 25, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, and >55 years.Results: In total, 1506 consecutively admitted patients screened positive for alcohol use were included in the study; the majority of them were males (95.6%), non-Qatari nationals (71.1%), and aged 35–44 years (30.9%). The age groups 35–44 years and 45–54 years showed the highest median BAC ([0.24 interquartile range (IQR: 0.14–0.33)] and [0.24 (IQR: 0.13–0.33)], respectively) as compared to the other age groups (P = 0.001). The pattern of hospital admission, sociodemographic status, presence of comorbidities, laboratory investigations, and mortality showed specific age-related distribution. Particularly, young adults were more likely to have a previous ED visit due to trauma, whereas older patients’ previous hospital admissions were mostly related to various underlying comorbidities.Conclusion: This study highlighted the patterns of age and clinico-epidemiological status of patients with alcohol-attributable hospital admissions. Our study showed that alcohol consumption was higher among the working-age group. Further studies are needed to investigate changes in the alcohol consumption patterns that may help plan for allocation of health resources and prevention of alcohol-related problems.
Highlights
Alcohol consumption is a public health crisis worldwide that is often associated with acute and chronic negative health consequences such as road traffic injuries, mental and behavioral disorders, hepatic cirrhosis, and cardiovascular diseases.[1,2] Evidence from the Western world had suggested that alcoholrelated visits to the emergency department (ED) and hospital admissions remarkably increase the healthcare burden in several developed countries.[3,4] A previous study from Canada showed that the rate of alcohol-related hospital admissions was more frequent among males than females and the crude rates for alcohol-related hospitalizations peaked in the age groups of 55– years and – 64 years.[5]
Our study showed that alcohol consumption was higher among the working-age group
This study describes the socioeconomic characteristics, comorbidities, and hospitalization/ED visit patterns attributable to alcohol consumption based on age from a national referral hospital in the State of Qatar
Summary
Religious, and legal constraints, the problem of alcohol consumption does exist in many Arabian Gulf countries.[7] In Qatar, road traffic accidents are the leading cause of death, whereas overspeeding and driving under the influence of alcohol are associated with severe injuries or poor outcomes.[8,9] El-Menyar et al, conducted a retrospective observational study between 2009 and 2012 to assess the patterns of alcohol screening in patients admitted at a national referral hospital.[10] It was found that 38% were tested positive for blood alcohol concentration (BAC) among the screened patients; the majority of them were males (97%) with the mean age of 37.5 ^ 11.6 years.
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