Stressful Life Events and Severity of Alcohol Consumption in Male Medical and Surgical Inpatients

• Main Authors: Amitabh Saha, Suprakash Chaudhury, Sudhir K Salujha, Kalpana Srivastava
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2018-01-01
• Series: Medical Journal of Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth
• Subjects: Alcohol use disorder; medical and surgical patients; stressful life events; military hospital
• Online Access: http://www.mjdrdypv.org/article.asp?issn=2589-8302;year=2018;volume=11;issue=1;spage=38;epage=44;aulast=Saha

Background: Failure to recognize comorbid alcohol use disorders in medical-surgical inpatients may adversely affect their management. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the stressful life events and severity of alcohol consumption in medical and surgical inpatients. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, hospital-based study included 100 consecutive medical and surgical patients admitted to a tertiary care center and 100 matched normal controls. For the collection of demographic data, a questionnaire was prepared which was administered to all patients. For studying stress, the Armed Forces Medical College life events scale was used. Michigan alcohol screening test (MAST) was applied for screening patients with alcohol dependence. Results: Medical and surgical patients experienced significantly more number of life events in their lifetime as compared to matched normal controls. The medical and surgical group experienced significantly more life change units both in 1-year prior as well as in lifetime period. Analysis revealed that significantly higher number of the medical and surgical patients scored above the cutoff score on the MAST compared to the controls (9% vs. 2%). Conclusion: Medical-surgical patients have significantly more stressful life events and higher prevalence of alcohol dependence than normal controls.