Laboratory Markers as Compared to Drinking Measures before and after Inpatient Treatment for Alcoholism

Abstract

A study group, consisting of 60 male and 13 female alcohol-dependent patients, participated in an inpatient treatment for alcoholism. They were interviewed about their alcohol use before the treatment period and bimonthly for 8 months after it. It was found that the correlations between laboratory markers and average daily alcohol intake are very low (range, -0.01-0.23) in alcoholics with high alcoholic intake level (before the treatment period). It was also found that the correlations between the laboratory tests and the drinking measures after the initial assessment undergo large changes. The correlation between GGT and average daily alcohol intake before the treatment period was 0.07 (p = NS) and 2 months after the treatment period 0.55 (p less than 0.001). The long period of abstinence, the change to a lower level of alcohol consumption, and improved accuracy of reporting alcohol intake were probably causative in this change. GGT proved to have the highest correlations with the drinking measures during the follow-up and MCV before the treatment period. The frequency measure, number of drinking days, gave consistently higher correlations with the laboratory markers than the measure of drinking amount, average daily alcohol intake. Laboratory markers, GGT and MCV, are well suited for outcome evaluation of drinking behavior of alcoholics after inpatient treatment for alcoholism or other comparative periods of abstinence.