Young Adults Drink to Hazardous Levels- But No One Notices

Melbourne, Australia - 12 April 2006 - Many young adults presenting at a hospital emergency department (ED) consume alcohol to a “hazardous” level, and most have not previously received advice to reduce their drinking.

This is the finding of a study by Alwie Tjipto (advanced medical science student), Associate Professor David Taylor (Director of Emergency), and Hui Liew (advanced medical science student), from the Emergency Department at Royal Melbourne Hospital.


The study is published in the latest issue of Emergency Medicine Australasia, the journal of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.


Over four months, the researchers studied 336 ED patients aged 18–30 years, 131 (39%) of whom were found to drink to a potentially hazardous level.


Men were significantly more likely to drink to a hazardous level than women.


One hundred (76.3%) of those who were potentially at risk from excessive drinking said no one had expressed concern about their level of drinking, nor had they been given advice to cut down.


“Excessive consumption of alcohol is clearly associated with both intentional and unintentional traumatic injury and this is often why these patients find themselves in a hospital ED,” said Professor Taylor.


“Also, injury is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality among teenagers and young adults.


“We need to identify and treat hazardous drinking early so that we can reduce trauma-related morbidity and death, as well as other conditions.”


Professor Taylor said once dependence has developed, drinking cessation often requires specialized treatment.


Because alcohol-related problems are reportedly higher among patients seen in health care, rather than in general population settings, the ED is well placed to undertake opportunistic screening for alcohol abuse especially because EDs increasingly screen for patients at risk from other causes such as medication errors and falls.


Professor Taylor said the results of this study support the findings of other studies that men consume more alcohol than women, frequently drink a hazardous quantity, are unable to stop drinking, and frequently blackout.


Because patients were not recruited for this study late at night or early in the morning when inebriated patients are more commonly seen, and seriously injured patients were not included, it is likely that these results are an under-representation of the problem.


An important finding was that three-quarters of those drinking to a hazardous level had not previously been advised to cut down.


“This suggests that a high proportion of those at risk have either not previously been identified or challenged by others regarding this risk,” Professor Taylor said.

“Therefore, opportunistic ED screening might provide for many the first indication of hazardous drinking behaviour.


As well as screening initiatives, strategies for the appropriate referral of individuals at risk need to be developed, such as general practitioners, counselling services, alcoholics anonymous, or hospital facilities.


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This study is published in the April issue of the Emergency Medicine Australasia (Vol. 18, Issue 2).