Prevalence rates for alcoholism, associated depression and dementia on the Harlem Hospital Medicine and Surgery Services.

Abstract

Current prevalence rates for alcoholism, and associated depression and dementia, were determined on random samples of approximately 200 patients admitted to the Medicine Service, and a similar sample to the Surgery Service, of the Harlem Hospital Center. The Medicine patients averaged 51 years of age, significantly older than the Surgery sample's average age of 44 years. Surgery patients also had a significantly greater proportion of patients (46.8 percent) who had achieved at least a high school education compared to Medicine (32.1 percent). The alcohol prevalence rate of 30.2 percent for Medicine was significantly greater than the 18.3 percent Surgery prevalence. Both Medicine and Surgery patients showed that a progressively serious pattern of drinking was associated with progressively serious depression. Progressive dementia was associated with progressive severity of drinking in the Medicine sample, but this finding was not demonstrated in the Surgery patients. Medicine and Surgery patients demonstrated dissimilar profiles of principal admitting diagnoses. Patient management is seriously handicapped by problems of alcoholism and associated problems of depression and dementia.