Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

Burden of Alcohol Disorders on Emergency Department Attendances and Hospital Admissions in England

Phillips, Thomas, Coulton, Simon, Drummond, Colin (2019) Burden of Alcohol Disorders on Emergency Department Attendances and Hospital Admissions in England. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 54 (5). pp. 516-524. ISSN 0735-0414. (doi:10.1093/alcalc/agz055) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:75339)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided. (Contact us about this Publication)
Official URL:
https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agz055

Abstract

Aims: This study aims to estimate the prevalence and burden of alcohol disorders on Emergency Department (ED) and hospital inpatients in England through the exploratory analysis of NHS data.

Methods: ED attendances and admission data were linked using hospital episode statistics. Diagnoses were preserved at a patient level to identify individuals who had an alcohol attributable diagnosis. Four groups were identified; a) individuals with no alcohol disorder (NAD), b) acute alcohol disorder (AAD), c) chronic alcohol disorder (CAD) and d) those with any alcohol disorder (AD) (b) and c) combined). Associations between ED diagnosis and alcohol disorders were examined using logistic regression adjusted for hospital provider, age and sex. Non-parametric tests were employed examining ED and hospital service use. Cost differences by group was explored using a propensity scored match sample.

Results: Of the 1.2million subjects 6.7% were identified as having one or more AD accounting for 11.7% of ED attendances, 9.2% of hospital admissions and 7.2% total bed days. Bootstrapped derived means identified that hospital service use varied significantly between AAD and CAD. Whilst AAD accounted for greater attendances than NAD (2.78; 95% CI 2.680–2.879) those with CAD accounted for even greater attendances (4.33; 95% CI. 4.136–4.515), admissions (2.56; 95% CI. 2.502–2.625) and total bed days (15.14; 95% CI. 14.716–15.559).

Conclusions: AD place a disproportionate impact on hospital services with CAD exerting the greatest burden on hospital utilization. The complexity and burden of CAD suggests this group should be a priority for intervention.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1093/alcalc/agz055
Uncontrolled keywords: ethanol emergency service, hospital diagnosis hospital admission, national health service
Subjects: H Social Sciences
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research > Centre for Health Services Studies
Depositing User: Simon Coulton
Date Deposited: 15 Jul 2019 09:06 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Mar 2024 17:28 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/75339 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.