Schatzung der pravalenz von alkoholmissbrauch und -abhangigkeit in der notfallambulanz eines allgemeinkrankenhauses

The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of alcohol abuse and dependence in a general hospital emergency room and to propose an appropriate screening procedure. For that purpose, 234 patients between 14 and 70 years were interviewed using the screening questionnaires CAGE and Short MAST. In addition, clinical signs of alcoholism, drinking habits and physicians' diagnoses were assessed. The prevalence based on physicians' diagnoses was 9.8%, a screening algorithm based on clinical signs and drinking habits resulted in 23.9%, and a combination of the screening questionnaires in 25.6%. These results are close to the international average given by literature. The most appropriate screening procedure seems to be a combination of questionnaires and systematic clinical examination. It is recommended to implement such secondary prevention measures into general hospital emergency rooms.