A hospitalisation due to alcohol intoxication does not sufficiently indicate alarming habitual drinking behaviour. The risk of hospitalisation seems to depend on the drinking context and other factors of the drinking situation. Nevertheless, a sub-group of adolescents, who seem to display an elevated risk for intoxications, could be identified. It is for this sub-group, that supportive measures must be made available.

Adolescents who had been admitted to hospital because of alcohol intoxication had a drinking pattern which put them at a higher risk for alcohol intoxication and acute alcohol-related problems than adolescents in the general population. Re-admission to hospital within 12 months because of alcohol intoxication, revealing a lack of knowledge about the life-threatening danger of alcohol intoxications and of consuming illegal drugs, may indicate an increased risk for alcohol-related problems. This points to the need for preventive action in adolescents showing these indicators, a need that was met within this pilot project by brief intervention.